The Riverhead News-Review

Updated: 2/19/2010 - 2:18 PM

Dead soldier's belongings found in France
Greenport man given dad's dog tags 0 comments below

RANDEE DADDONA PHOTO

Robert Foster, 66, never really knew his father, William — a Greenport native and World War II soldier. The elder Mr. Foster served as a medic in France during the war and died from illness in a Texas hospital in 1948, when his son was only 5. But last month, a farmer plowing a field near the French city of Metz found dog tags and other items belonging to William Foster, who like so many soldiers of the Hitler era buried his bag to avoid being identified as an American.

Surrounded by family and friends, Robert Foster, a former janitor at Greenport High School and the only son of the veteran, was presented his father's long-lost dog tags by Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy at an emotional ceremony in Hauppauge Thursday night.

"I just learned more about my father than I've ever known in my life," said a teary-eyed Mr. Foster.

Read the full story and watch video in the Feb. 11 edition.

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