Delco. Vietnam Veteran Reunited With Lost Dog Tags After 47 Years

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--Separated for 47 years, this is the story of a Vietnam veteran, his lost dog tags, and the Missouri narcotics officer who reunited the two.

Mike Amalfitano, married and father to three girls, grandfather to six, lost his dog tags, as he puts it, somewhere in the jungle.

"Spent a lot of time in the jungle, so I didn't know if, how I lost it," Amalfitano said.

And out of the blue, there was an online message, he says, from some guy.

"He's a World War 2 collector and he said he had this dog tag," said Amalfitano. "My wife and I didn't know if it was a scam, the way things are today."

Turns out the man who found Mike's tag is specifically a World War 2 buff, and not Vietnam-era.

"He says well look, I'll send it to you. Send me your address, (adding) I was skeptical about that."

This Milmont Park man, a former Haverford and O'Hara football coach, was a 101st Airborne sergeant.

He served for a year in Vietnam in 1969.

"When I got this, I felt like it was a great present."

He only remembers vague details about losing the tags. The military reissued him new tags immediately.

But there's something special about this piece of metal.

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"When I got it, it became a big deal, when I received this, it was nice, you know, it brought back some memories, so, I thought it was a good deal you know," he said.

And just like the technology that linked the two men in the first place, the two reunited on Tuesday.

"You know I just wanted him to get it back really," Officer Nate Pinter of Washington, Missouri, said.

Now, Mike Amalfitano keeps the tag in an unassuming spot.

"I keep it in a teacup in there because if I put this in a drawer somewhere I'll forget where the heck I put it."

And he plans to gift the long-lost tag to his grandson, Carmen, a second grade student who has shown an interest in the military.

In:
• Vietnam
• Philadelphia