WWII dog tag of Milton J Kitts, Battery B, 121st Field Artillery

WWII dog tag of Milton J Kitts, Battery B, 121st Field Artillery found near Brisbane, Australia returned to granddaughter in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

 

My name is Vic Suchocki and I am semi-retired and am a keen military history buff of the Pacific stage in WW2. As part of this history hobby, I go metal detecting and my favourite places are old WW2 military camps and training grounds. I live in Brisbane which is the capital of the State of Queensland in Australia. During the early stages of Pacific war in WW2, the Japanese were looking like making a concerted effort to isolate Australia from supply and assistance by sea from the USA by moving to take eastern New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Invasion of Australia was possible if they were successful to the immediate north and northeast.

In defending these sea lanes and turning the Japanese back from New Guinea on Australia’s doorstep and nearby Solomons, tens of thousands of US military personnel of all types were sent to assist and were stationed in and around Brisbane and in towns and military locations all over this State and on to Pacific island bases. Apparently, nearly one million US personnel passed through Brisbane during the war.

 

The US 32nd Infantry Division was formed from Army National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan and was known as the Red Arrow Division as shown by its insignia. It arrived in southern Australia in May 1942 by convoy from San Francisco. The unit was moved by ship and railway in July 1942 over to Camp Cable located in the bush, 30 miles south of Brisbane on the east coast – see map attached. The 121st Field Artillery Battalion was a unit in the 32nd Infantry Division and Milton J Kitts was in that unit in Australia at the time. The units went to New Guinea and islands for various campaigns but returned to Camp Cable during 1943 and left Australia for good in early 1944.

 

Let 70 years pass to 2014, and I am detecting the Eucalyptus bush of former Camp Cable with a Garrett At-Pro metal detector. I find the dog tag of Milton J Kitts in the sandy soil less than six inches below the surface and am ecstatic to find such a personal item. This tag will allow history to truly come to life by letting me investigate the former owner and then, after leaving full time work, give me the time to find out if the Mr Kitts is alive or who his family is to be able to return the tag to them.

 

So now in 2021, I have the time to start returning over 40 dog tags that I have found in three old camps. I selected this dog tag out of a closed bag, as if in a lucky dip, to be the first to try to get home. After focusing on the stamped name, it barely took more than a couple of hours on Google and then Facebook to find the information on Mr Kitts and his family that I needed and to decide that I would attempt to first send the dog tag to his granddaughter. It took me a half hour to compose what I hoped was a clear and not weird message using Facebook to which I attached the photo of the dog tag. I then nervously sent the message to his granddaughter and within seconds I could see a response forming. The first words in response were “That’s my grandpa!!” and I responded with “yes it is!”. After that moment, we went back and forward with questions and answers and how amazing this was with tears in our eyes and it was absolutely priceless. I was so pleased to be able to send that dog tag home to someone that was so appreciative and incredulous! I mailed the tag to Wisconsin and it arrived about three weeks later to more excitement. It really did bring my hobby and history passion to life!! So, looking forward to doing this again.

 

After returning the dog tag, I tried to find a WW2 photo of Battery B of the 121st Field Artillery by just using Google and to my surprise, a photo montage of Battery B did appear but I couldn’t read the table of names of the four rows of personnel that were arranged like a school photo. So, I visited the site that photo came from and it was the 1-121 Veteran’s Association. There was an email message composer ready to use on the site so I very briefly told my story about the dog tag, the owner and the return and asked for a digital copy in the best resolution for me and the family and nearly received an immediate response. There, standing in the better resolution photo was Milton J Kitts with others from Battery B in January 1941. This was amazing so I passed the photo to the granddaughter and she said her grandpa looked like her cousin! I was also asked by 1-121 FAVA to write a few words about this whole amazing episode and that is why you are reading about it.

 

Thank you for service and the part your countrymen and relatives played in helping keep Australia and the world safe then to now.

 

Best Regards

Vic Suchocki