US veteran reunited with World War Two dog tag

The 8th Air Force arranged with Raymond Odom's daughter to return the dog tag during a surprise ceremony at his home

A 93-year-old US Army veteran said he was "humbled and honoured" to be reunited with the dog tag he lost while in Britain during World War Two.

Raymond Odom's tag was discovered at his former base RAF Knettishall in Suffolk by a metal detectorist in May.

The USAF at RAF Mildenhall was contacted and helped track down Mr Odom through his daughter.

8th Air Force commander Maj Gen Thomas Bussier returned the tag to the veteran at his home in Louisiana, USA.

Raymond Odom (centre with friends and right). He was 19 when he joined up

Mr Odom, who lives with his wife at a care home in Farmerville, has only recently begun to speak about his time during the war, according to his daughter Debbie Ball.

She said: "It is still difficult for him to talk about lots of his crew mates leaving for missions and never coming back."

The tags served as a form of identification for men injured or killed in action

Mr Odom was an aeroplane sheet metal worker during his time at RAF Knettishall, helping to keep the bombers flying

Andy Fuller discovered the dog tag when he was sweeping the ground at the disused RAF station, with the permission of its owner Colin Davey.

Mr Fuller, a groundsman at RAF Honington, passed the tag on to Cpl Ed Stanley who researched its history and contacted Mr Odom's daughter Debbie Ball.

Senior Master Sgt Brian Boisvert from RAF Mildenhall said: "We got an email from RAF Honington to say the tag had been found and a plan was put into place to repatriate it."

The 8th Air Force is marking its 75th anniversary this year. Maj Gen Bussier said the return of the tag was a small token of appreciation for Mr Odom's service

Mr Odom joined the Army Air Forces in 1943 and was assigned to the 388th Bomb Group.

He was posted to Knettishall later that year.

The 388th Bomb Group no longer exists, but it would have been subordinate to the 8th Air Force, which is why it took charge of returning the tag.

Mr Odom said: "It's a real honour to have you people here to recognise me."