Mystery surrounds NZ sailor’s ID card
A NEW Zealand sailor’s naval identification card has been found at the bottom of Pearl Harbour.
The watermarked Royal New Zealand Navy’s ID card, which belonged to a Nigel Vincent Foster, was recently dredged out of the Hawaiian naval base by a contractor.
Mr Foster was born in Whanganui in October 1945, nearly four years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour naval base, and it is not yet clear how, or when, his ID card came to be in Hawaii.
A photo of the ID card was posted on the Royal New Zealand Navy’s community Facebook page on Tuesday.
It shows that Mr Foster, No 17680, had been assigned to training establishment HMNZS Tamaki.
‘‘Mr Foster would be in his 70s now if still alive, but it would be fun to return his card, if anyone can shed any clues,’’ says the posting, which has since been shared 14,000 times.
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has tracked down Mr Foster, aged 72.
‘‘Members of Mr Foster’s family were made aware of the posting and got in contact with the Royal New Zealand Navy, and provided the Navy with a contact phone number,’’ an NZDF spokesman said yesterday.
The contractor who discovered the ID card while dredging Pearl Harbour has put the card in the mail to the New Zealand Defence Force.
‘‘The Royal New Zealand Navy will make arrangements . . . to return the card to Mr Foster when it arrives.’’ —