Becca is a writer and aspirational dog owner living in NYC.

When I was a little girl, I used to love going to church rummage sales and hunting down treasures.

But what seemed like a prize to a 9-year-old hardly compares to some of the incredible things that people have really found lying in piles of junk, like this antique safe that turned out to be full of coins.


In fact, if Antiques Roadshow has taught us anything, it’s that valuable objects can make their way to all sorts of strange and unlikely locations, like this incredible haul of WWII paraphernalia found hidden in a skylight.

But every once in a while, treasures come to light that mostly have tremendous sentimental value. That’s exactly what happened this past week in Laurel, Maryland, when the police received an anonymous Veterans Day donation.

A local man dropped off a ton of WWII memorabilia that he discovered in his attic, hoping that the police could track down the rightful owners.


Well, turns out that he had the right idea.

In the pile of memorabilia, the police quickly noticed a briefcase packed full of the personal effects of WWII naval veteran Armando Custodio, including piles of love letters that he sent to his wife while stationed overseas.

Now, thanks to the quick work of the Laurel PD, those letters are back with their rightful owner, Mr. Custodio’s daughter Rita Shane. She’s delighted with the find, and says that looking through the documents will make for a “great Thanksgiving.”

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