Fallen WWII soldier’s dog tags return home after 75 years
Canton: The dog tags belonging to a fallen World War II soldier have finally returned to his hometown after 75 years.
The identification tags Roger Taylor wore around his neck during his 22 months of Army service were presented during an emotional ceremony on Sunday in Beloit, the Canton Repository reported.
The ceremony was held at the Beloit Historical Society, where Col. Matthew Woodruff of the Ohio Adjutant General’s office presented the tags to Leland VanCamp, the historical society’s president. Around 60 people attended, including Virginia Israel Bandy, now 94, who was engaged to Taylor when he was deployed.
“It’s an honor to be able to give this to your historical society to have one more thing and one piece of Beloit history that you can continue to preserve with the rest of the artifacts that you guys have been able to maintain,” said Woodruff.
Taylor, a replacement infantry soldier, had gone missing near Belgium and was later found dead there during the Battle of the Bulge.
The necklace was found by a resident near the border of Belgium earlier this year, along with those belonging to several other American soldiers. (AP)
Moscow brings in artificial snow for New Year
Moscow: The Moscow authorities have dumped artificial snow in the city centre for New Year festivities, as the Russian capital witnessed the warmest December since 1886.
However, a light dusting of snow had fallen by Monday afternoon in Moscow, with more forecast later in the week, the BBC reported.
A strip of artificial snow now lies on one of Moscow’s main avenues – Tverskaya.
Similar snow “dumps” took place over the weekend at Red Square and some other sites in the city centre, which were being closed to traffic for the holiday.
A senior city hall official, Alexei Nemeryuk, said the artificial snow on Tverskaya was “a small amount to create a snowboarding hill in time for the New Year celebrations”.The snow was made by breaking ice at some of Moscow’s skating rinks, especially the one at VDNKh, a big Soviet-era complex featuring exhibition halls and an amusement park.
On December 18, the temperature in Moscow reached 5.6 degrees Celsius, breaking a December record set in 1886. (IANS)
