PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) — A World War II veteran has returned a U.S. Coast Guard flag to its home ship after the flag spent nearly 80 years in a wooden trunk.

The Virginian-Pilot reported Thursday that the flag belonged to 96-year-old Alex Obrizok of Selma, North Carolina. He returned it last week to the USS Tampa, a Coast Guard cutter that’s based in Portsmouth, Virginia.

During Obrizok’s time in World War II, the USS Tampa escorted merchant ships with soldiers and supplies that were bound for Europe.

Obrizok took the ship’s flag home after the war. It stayed in his possession for decades.

But he met a woman this fall who recently served on the USS Tampa. That’s when Obrizok decided to return the flag. He said it belonged on the ship.

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