Fisher finds WWII tags and returns to veteran's family 50 years after they were lost

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History can be buried anywhere.

A magnet fisher in Michigan came across an unusual find when he pulled a set of WWII-era dog tags from the Grand River. After looking up the owner of the tags, he was able to track down the family and return the family heirloom that had been considered lost for decades.

During a recent magnet-fishing expedition off the Leonard Street bridge in Grand Rapids, however, Gross pulled out a set of World War 2 dog tags that belonged to a soldier named Clifford J. Voight. (Adam Gross/Ferrous Fishing)

Adam Gross spoke with Fox News and explained that he’s used to pulling strange items from the water with his magnet. According to him, the majority of what he finds is typically scrap metal of some kind, although he has found "a ton of bikes" and even a lawnmower once.

He says he even found an old grenade one time, but it was fortunately just a training grenade and wasn’t explosive.

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During the recent magnet-fishing expedition off the Leonard Street bridge in Grand Rapids, however, Gross pulled out the tags that belonged to a soldier named Clifford J. Voight. He shared footage of himself pulling the dog tags from the water on his Youtube page.

The tags must have been in the water a long time because Voight’s family said that Clifford hadn’t been to Michigan since he last lived there in 1956. (Adam Gross/ Ferrous Fishing)

Gross was able to track down Voight’s family, who live in Arizona and were "super excited" to find the tags. Voight’s family told Gross that they had just assumed that the tags were long gone. Voight died some time ago, so the family was happy to have a part of his history back.

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The tags must have been in the water a long time because Voight’s family said that Voight hadn’t been to Michigan since he last lived there in 1956. Despite likely being in the water for many decades, the tags were still in good shape.

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Adam Gross spoke with Fox News and explained that he’s used to pulling strange items from the water with his magnet. (Adam Gross/Ferrous Fishing)

Voight’s family explained to Gross that he didn’t talk about the war much and would only really discuss it with specific family members. Voight had stormed the beach at Normandy and was one of the first platoon’s to enter Auschwitz. 

Gross confirmed that he mailed the tags to the family.