Dog tags unite families

A Newport Beach family got back a small piece of their fallen father and husband on Saturday that had been missing for more than 50 years.

Fort Morgan, Ala., resident Debbie Harris and eight members of her family traveled more than 2,000 miles to give Newport Beach resident Mickie Sue Glasgow, 87, and her children a small wooden box filled with sand from an Alabama beach.

Nestled in the sand was a dented, tarnished military dog tag and a small military emblem that once belonged to Mickie Sue Glasgow’s husband, Cmdr. Robert N. Glasgow. A Blue Angel pilot, Robert Glasgow died when the F-11 Tiger he was piloting crashed on an Alabama beach on Oct. 14, 1958.

The two families gathered on a front lawn in Newport Beach for a small ceremony to pass along the items on Saturday.

Harris lives on the beach, just a few hundred yards from the crash site, and found the fallen pilot’s belongings 50 years later.

“There was a reason all of this happened, and it isn’t about a dog tag,” Harris said. “It’s about a father loving his family and his family needing to know. We are just messengers.”

Mickie Sue Glasgow moved with her children to Newport Beach not long after her husband died.

“It’s just amazing to me that after 50 years, these things would turn up again,” she said. “I’m very happy to have them back again. This will go in a place of honor in my home.”

The youngest of four children, Pennie Moreno was only 3 years old when her father died. She flew to Newport Beach from Frisco, Texas, to see her father’s belongings returned.

“I grew up saying that my father was a Blue Angel and he became a white angel and after this, I know it’s really true,” Moreno said.

An army veteran, Moreno wore her dog tags on Saturday in memory of her late father.

Last October, around the 50th anniversary of the crash, Harris came across a small, tarnished metal emblem from a fighter squadron on the sand, a few hundred yards from her house. The emblem, about the size of a nickel, was from Fighter Squadron 191, which Robert Glasgow used to fly with.

Harris later found Robert Glasgow’s bent dog tag in the sand on the pilot’s birthday, Feb. 17.

“When I found it in the sand and the sun was setting on the beach, he was with me that day,” Harris said.

She became determined to return the items to the Glasgow family.

Her search to find the Glasgow family led her to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla., where Harris’ aunt and uncle live.

The museum director happened to be a pilot, who was flying with Robert Glasgow the day he died and was the last person to see and speak to Robert Glasgow.

Newport Beach resident Patrick Glasgow, who was 12 when his father died, discovered Harris had found his father’s dog tags after reading a news story online about the find.

“I’ve been so impressed with Debbie and her family. They made it their mission to bring these things back to us,” Patrick Glasgow said. “It’s really amazing to remember the love my father had for us and have a piece of my dad back.”

Reporter BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.