Sailor’s ID resurfaces 50 years on
A Kiwi sailor is ‘‘amazed’’ to finally recover the New Zealand naval identification he lost to the depths of Pearl Harbour 50 years ago.
The Whanganui-born Nigel Foster left the navy in 1972 after serving for nine years, and now lives in Auckland with his wife, Lynne.
Foster was happy to hear his old ID was found when the Defence Force got in touch to organise its return, and ‘‘amazed’’ it was in such good condition after 50 years at the bottom of Pearl Harbour.
The old sailor said he remembered exactly how he lost it. Foster was stationed on the HMNZS Otago as a junior recruit in 1968 when the ship stopped in Hawaii to refuel, re-supply and for training exercises.
‘‘I was helping to load ship supplies. I took off my shirt because it was a hot day, and when I put my shirt back on my ID card was gone.’’
Foster’s ID sat on the bottom of the sea for decades until Hawaiian contractor Charles Morton found it while removing unexploded bombs and shells from material dredged up from Pearl Harbour. His team works around Waipio Point, where the battleship USS Nevada ran aground in flames during the Pearl Harbour attack.
The Nevada was the only American battleship that managed to get out of its dock during the Japanese surprise attack. But it crashed into Waipio Point after it was hit by one torpedo and at least six bombs.
Morton said even 77 years after the battle, debris and sailors’ personal effects remained spread right across the bottom of the harbour.
Morton’s team have found everything from 2.4 metre anchors to coffee cups, fishing gear, and enough anti-aircraft ammunition to shoot down half the Zero fighter planes Japan built for World War II, he said.
But a New Zealand sailor’s ID was a first, so he contacted the Royal New Zealand Navy.
‘‘The owner turns 73 on October 16th this year, and [I thought] it would be a really cool blast from his past.’’
The navy shared a photo of the water-damaged card on Facebook, asking for help tracking Foster down.
The post attracted a lot of attention, and a member of the Foster family eventually spotted it, allowing the Defence Force to get in touch and return the card.