"It was a miracle": WWII bracelet lost at Army-Navy game found in Gillette Stadium parking lot
FOXBORO - There are certain things in life that are priceless. "It's just one of the only things that I have of my grandfather's. It was extra heartbreaking losing this bracelet," Meredith McCarthy of Pennsylvania said.
For McCarthy, it's her grandfather's WWII bracelet which she proudly wore to the Army-Navy game this past weekend. During the fanfare and before kickoff she was proudly showing it off to other fans.
"I went to go show them the bracelet and it wasn't there. Everything went in slow motion, I tried not to cry in front of strangers," she said. The bracelet was gone. It had fallen off her wrist. During the entire game she was retracing her steps. "I kind of resigned myself to it being gone and never seeing it again," McCarthy said.
The bracelet has deep significance. Her grandfather George Sangiorgio, who passed away in 2001 at the age of 81, immigrated from Italy to live the American Dream and serve his country. "He was in France, and Normandy, and D-Day and everything. So he wore that as his ID bracelet. When he got back to the states after the war, he had his service dates engraved on the inside of it," she said.
As a last-ditch effort on her drive back to Pennsylvania, McCarthy posted on social media and also reached out to the Marine Corps spouse group she's in, hoping someone would find her grandfather's precious bracelet.
Turns out an anonymous person found her grandfather's bracelet on the ground in the Gillette Stadium parking lot. After the post went out, that person immediately reached out to McCarthy.
"It was a longshot, and I knew it was a longshot. I woke up this morning to what I thought was dream. They asked to remain anonymous. And they are overnighting it to me and they didn't even want money for it. It was a miracle that someone found it," she said.
It was the first time she's ever worn the bracelet for the Army-Navy game.
"I am very proud what my grandfather did. He was willing to risk his life for this new country," she said.
Now she plans to put on new clasps to make sure this doesn't happen again.