PHILADELPHIA -- A Vietnam veteran has been reunited with his long-lost dog tags, thanks to the help of a Missouri narcotics officer.

CBS Philly reports Mike Amalfitano lost his dog tags 47 years ago — somewhere in the jungle, as he puts it.

"Spent a lot of time in the jungle," Amalfitano said. He served for a year in Vietnam in 1969 and was a sergeant in the 101st Airborne.

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He only remembers vague details about losing the tags because the military issued him new copies immediately.

But one day recently, out of the blue, Amalfitano received a message online from someone he didn't know: Officer Nate Pinter.

"He's a World War II collector and he said he had this dog tag," Amalfitano said. "My wife and I didn't know if it was a scam, the way things are today."

Amalfitano — a father to three girls, and a grandfather of six — says he was "skeptical" when the man asked for his address. But when he received the lost dog tags, it "felt like it was a great present."

On Tuesday, Pinter and Amalfitano met for the first time in person.

"You know I just wanted him to get it back really," said Pinter, who lives in Washington, Missouri.

"When I got it, it became a big deal," Amalfitano said. "When I received this, it was nice, you know? It brought back some memories."

Amalfitano says for now he keeps the dog tags in a teacup so as not to lose them again. He plans to give them as a gift to his grandson, Carmen, a second-grader who has shown interest in the military.