A class ring reunited with veteran’s family after 50 years (Scott '63)

After being lost in the ocean for more than 50 years, a U.S. Naval Academy ring has found its way home, thanks to the efforts of five Island School eighth-grade students and their parents.

There were no gentlemen in uniforms, no bands playing and no crowds to witness the reunion process. But it took place near the Island School sign, via speakerphone, between Kaulana Mossman of the Pacific Missile Range Facility; Peggy Scott, 84, of New Hampshire, the widow of Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Jon Paul Scott; and the group of boys who found the ring and their parents, including Keli'i and Heather Morgado.

"This is serendipity," said Coach Keli'i, the father of Mateo Morgado, one of the five boys who found the ring at the reef outside Camp Naue. "There are so many factors that had to line up just right for all of this to happen."

Including Mateo, the group included Finn Scarbo, Levi Hovland, Nathaniel Knickel and Cade Ormond. The boys went on a weekend camping trip to Camp Naue on June 13 when a King Tide was taking place, combined with a large southerly swell buffeting the southern coastlines.

On the first day of camp, the boys were up at first light. Because of an abnormal negative tide, the camp caretaker suggested the boys do an exploratory reef walk because the hardened sandstone was exposed and there was no pounding surf.

"This only happens about four, maybe five days out of the year," Knickel said. "Normally, there is surf pounding the reef."

Coach Keli'i said in less than an hour, the boys came running back with a big, solid gold ring from the U.S. Naval Academy.

"It's their fault," said Hovland, who found the ring nestled between rocks on the reef. "I was sleeping, and they woke me up."

Heather Morgado said the "old eyes" joined the "young eyes" in trying to decipher the inscriptions on the ring so they could try to find the owner.

Turning to technology, the parents used the Internet to discover the ring belonged to a 1963 Annapolis graduate, USN Retired Capt. Jon Paul Scott, who passed away in 2011. His obituary led the group to Peggy Scott, whose information, including a telephone number, was listed on the obituary.

"My hands were shaking," Heather Morgado said. "I texted the number, explaining that we found a ring we believe belonged to her husband."

Less than two minutes went by before an answering text sent her and the other ladies screaming with excitement.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Peggy Scott answered. "This is my husband's ring."

The connection triggered a storm of memories from the time he spent at the Naval Academy, and the days when he was stationed at Pearl Harbor and the couple lived at Kailua on the windward side of Oahu.

And while they weren't married while he was in the academy, her engagement ring was a smaller replica of the U.S. Naval Academy ring, she explained.

"The ring was a symbol of four years of challenging study, grueling athletics and enduring military discipline," she said. "The dream of going to the Naval Academy had been one he had in high school after reading the Horatio Hornblower books in elementary school."

While stationed in Hawaii in the 1970s, the couple spent a weekend on Kauai. While at the beach on the North Shore, they put the ring on a beach towel for safekeeping before entering the water. A large wave came in and swept the ring away.

"I was ecstatic when I received your email, and knew immediately that it had to be Jon's ring," Peggy Scott said in an email to the parents. "We thought for sure if someone had found it, they had probably sold it for the gold. The ring looked beautiful and amazing after 50 years of rolling around in the surf."

Coach Keli'i said those 50 years included two hurricanes, and 50 winters of pounding surf.

"The ring looks pretty good, except the stone is a little scratched," he said.

Hovland, the ring's finder, added, "It still has some water under the stone."

Because Capt. Scott was a naval submarine commander, contact with the U.S. Navy through the Pacific Missile Range Facility was made through the efforts of Mossman, who had a contact at Annapolis and the academy's alumni association.

Speaking via speakerphone, arrangements were made for the group to use the U.S. Postal System to mail the ring home.

"Both our son, Tulsa, and grandson followed Jon's career as submariners," Peggy Scott said. "They both graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the NROTC programs. Jon was very proud of them. They are both excited and amazed that the ring was found and will be returned to the family.

"Every time I share the story and show the pictures that you sent, I get tears in my eyes, and those I'm talking with do, too. It is so unbelievable that it was found after 50 years, and that you were able to track us down to return it."

The post A class ring reunited with veteran's family after 50 years appeared first on The Garden Island.

Source: The Garden Island

BZ '63!