Man reunites veteran with dog tags after finding them at estate sale

EVERSON, Wash. -- An Army veteran was reunited with his dog tags and military bag after some help from a kind, dedicated stranger.

Jerami Tom is familiar with military bags.

In the late 1970s, his father used one while serving in the National Guard.

After he was done serving, Tom used it to carry around his toys.

So, when he came across a similar bag at an estate sale in December, he just had to have it.

"I loved it," he told KOMO. "And I just had to have the bag."

But when he got the bag home, he found something precious inside: a military identification card and two dog tags belonging to an army veteran named Dennis Luby.

"I could hear my dad telling me, 'you need to get this back to him,'" he said. "I just knew, 'I have to get this back to Dennis.'"

So, Tom jumped on Facebook to track the owner down but had no luck.

He then reached out to the Bellingham Herald, who published a story about the bag.

After the story was published, Tom and Luby found each other.

Luby, who served from 1972-1980 and now lives in California, said the bag was sold at his mother's old home.

Luby said he had no idea the items still existed.

"He just told me he found it and thought I'd like to have it back," Dennis said. "When I put them in that bag years ago, I didn't want it back. That was something to forget about. Now I want it back, and I'm glad he found it."

The men plan to meet in February for the exchange. Luby hopes he can give the keepsakes to his kids.

"I don't know what to say, except 'thank you Jerami, I really appreciate it, and I will keep this as long as I'm around,'" Luby said.