WWII Hero’s Dog Tag Reunites with Family After 80 Years

Eighty years after Technical Sergeant Joseph L. Gray perished in a tragic B-17G Flying Fortress crash on the Isle of Man, his dog tag has finally found its way back to his family, closing a poignant chapter of World War II history. The 1945 disaster, which claimed 31 U.S. servicemen, remains the deadliest aviation incident in the island’s records.

In 2010, a local metal detectorist unearthed Gray’s dog tag, a small but powerful relic of a life lost too soon. Handed over to the Manx Aviation and Military Museum, it waited patiently for its rightful homecoming. The breakthrough came when Donald Madar, whose great-uncle also died in the crash, visited the site in April 2025. Madar, hailing from Pennsylvania, had been in touch with Gray’s great-niece, Clare Quinn, since 2020 through a Facebook group dedicated to the tragedy.

"Holding that tag, something clicked," Madar shared. "I remembered Clare’s post about her great-uncle, and I knew we had to get this piece of history back to his family." Collaborating with museum historian Ivor Ramsden, Madar received the tag and a heartfelt letter to deliver. On May 7, he drove to Brickville House Restaurant in Pennsylvania to meet Clare’s sister, Bridgette Daily. The moment was electric—tears welled in Bridgette’s eyes as she held the tag, a tangible connection to her family’s past.

"It was a sunny day, perfect for such a moment," Madar recalled. "We talked about Joseph, the crash, and what it meant to finally bring this memento home." The handoff wasn’t just a transaction; it was a bridge across decades, linking past sacrifice to present remembrance.