8 March 2006
Dear Nick,
It is with great pleasure that I return to you your fathers Dog Tag, which he wore during his service at Guadalcanal Solomon Islands during WW2.
During 2003, I served in the Australian Army on operations in the Solomon Islands as part of the Regional Assistance Mission Solomon Islands (RAMSI In September I found myself in a village called Dala South on the West Coast of the Island of Malaita (approx 100km from Guadalcanal). I noticed a village woman wearing the USMC WWII Dog Tag around her neck. After several return trips to the village I managed to exchange the Dog Tag with her for some army combat rations and a few Solomon dollars.
Whilst in the Solomon Islands I met Justin Taylan an American war historian and founder of PacificWrecks.com. After returning home I e-mailed Justin with the story and a picture of the Dog Tag which he kindly published in his web site.
Since December 2003 I have been searching various U.S. National Archives and Administration, U.S. War Graves and ancestry web sites in an attempt to locate the family and return USMC Private First Class Robert Lincoln Cunningham’s Dog Tag. Late last year I received an e-mail back from U.S. National Archives war records, advising that they were unable to provide me with information, as I was not a relative. However they confirmed your father’s date of death as being 21 Aug 1984.
On the rootswed.com site I found a match at Suisun City Solano California and contacted Mrs Marilyn Pie the local librarian. Marilyn kindly researched the local paper but unfortunately did not find an obituary notice. I also sent off a letter to one of the California U.S. Senators for assistance however never received a reply.
Then in December 2005 Mr Dave Goodman a Private Investigator from Dave Goodman & Associates CA contacted me after reading the article on the Pacific wrecks web site. Dave offered information on a possible match, which as it turns out was not correct. After exchanging numerous e-mails and information such as the Social Security Number I found on Rootsweb.com he came back to me with your current address in Miami Florida ending this two-year search.
I was delighted to see the same serial number on the Dog Tag appear on your father’s war records you sent to me. Please find enclosed your father’s Dog Tag, a map of Malaita Island indicating the village where the Tag was recovered and a few photographs of the Solomon Islands today.
Yours truly,
John Laird
