Fifty-three years after losing him in Antarctica, Paul Grisham finally got his wallet back.
Grisham, 91, of San Diego, California, arrived in Antarctica in October 1967 as a Navy meteorologist. At some point during his 13-month mission, he lost his wallet and ended up forgetting about it – until last week.
“I was amazed,” Grisham told The San Diego Union-Tribune after receiving the wallet in the mail on Saturday. “There was a long series of people involved who tracked me and threw me to the ground.”
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According to the newspaper, Grisham’s wallet contained many memories of his time in Antarctica – which he called “The Ice” – as well as his identity card and driver’s license.
Paul Grisham lost his wallet while working in Antarctica as a Navy meteorologist in 1967 and 1968. Fifty-three years after he left the continent, Grisham’s wallet was returned to him. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
Some of these memories included a pocket reference card on what to do during atomic, biological and chemical attacks, a perforated beer ration card, a tax withholding declaration and payment order receipts sent to your wife.
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Grisham’s wallet and another lost wallet were found in 2014, when a building at McMurdo Station on Ross Island in Antarctica was being demolished.
Paul Grisham and his wife Carole Salazar examine his wallet and the items that were inside when he lost it in 1968. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
Stephen Decato and his daughter Sarah Lindbergh, both from New Hampshire, worked with Bruce McKee of the nonprofit Indiana Spirit of ’45 to track down Grisham and the owner of the other wallet.
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The trio had already returned a Navy service identification bracelet to its owner after Decato found it in a store and bought it last year. Her daughter contacted McKee, who posted an online notice about the bracelet, which took them to the original owner.
Paul Grisham has his 1968 Navy identification card, which was found inside his wallet. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
After hearing about the bracelet, the former chief of Decato asked him to find the owners of the lost wallets discovered in the demolition. Decato had previously worked for an agency that does research on Antarctica.
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As with bracelets, Decato worked with Lindbergh and McKee to successfully track Grisham through several groups, including the Naval Weather Service Association, of which Grisham is a part.
Paul Grisham holds one of the items found in his wallet, a “pocket reference for atomic, biological and chemical warfare”. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
The trio also managed to return the other wallet to its owner’s family, a man who died in 2016.
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“If it were my father’s assets, I would have kept them as I think they will,” Lindbergh, whose grandfather served in the Navy, told The Union-Tribune. “It was a pleasant attitude and my father and I went to bed thinking that another family was just as happy as us. My grandfather would be very proud and my father is proud to have things in place.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.