FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Army medals, patriotic momentous and more were taken in a heartbreak heist.
“I wanted to join military since I was a little kid. Growing up watching old war movies with my dad, and joined the army and went into the calvary,” said Military Vet. Michael O’Driscoll.
O’Driscoll capped his career in the United States Army with a stint in Iraq.
“We did convoy security, asset protection,” said O’Driscoll.
He left the service in 2005 with a wealth of memories and footlockers full of memorabilia, which he stored in his Fort Lauderdale storage facility.
“My global war on terrorism medal, my good conduct medal, army achievement medal, army commendation medal, with the calvary once you serve six months in a combat zone, you get gold spurs that we wear in the back of our boots,” said O’Driscoll.
All of those in storage, along with other medals, awards and a flag that flew over Iraq, given to him by a friend in the Air Force, are all gone.
“I got a call from one of the staff here, to say my unit had been broken into,” said O’Driscoll. “Went in, saw that the lock missing and the slider on the door was all beat up, it looked like someone used bolt cutters to open that up.”
Plastic bins of electronics and other items were also taken along with the footlockers. All that was in those lockers, marking achievements and milestones of his time in the army, can’t be replaced.
O’Driscoll’s message to the thief:
“If you could please return any of the items, any way, no questions asked. I don’t mind if you drop them off back here at the front door. I’d love to have those items,” said O’Driscoll. “They are something that don’t really mean nothing to you, you’re not going to get any money for them. They’re not worth much, but they really are worth a lot to me, and I would love to have them back.”
Even if the thief or thieves don’t return the items back to the storage unit, he’s hoping that they might dump the items somewhere where someone will find them, and he ends up getting them back.
If you have any information, call Fort Lauderdale Police at (954) 764-4357.
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