WWII sailor reunites with friend to return photo stolen 70 years ago

[Subdeacon Joe]

Just, Wow!

 

Depoe Bay, Oregon. On a day off, the then 22-year-old US Coast Guard
sailor took a trip to Portland’s Jantzen Beach Amusement Park. He
happened to meet 22-year-old Ruby Ruff and shared a dance. There was no
romance but the two struck up a friendship and as was the custom in
those days, the Ruff family opened their home to the serviceman to make
him feel welcome. While enjoying lemonade in Ruby’s home Jim said, "I
saw the picture on an end table next to the sofa and that's when I
slipped it out of the frame and took it…One of the reasons why I took it
was everybody had pictures of girls on their bunks at Depoe Bay, but I
didn't have any. So I thought this was a good chance to get one."
Instead of opting for a starlet pinup, Jim preferred Ruby’s picture.

Jim had reconsidered his theft and planned on returning the photo to
Ruby when he was back in Portland, but just days later he was
transferred to St. Augustine, Florida and then off to war. So for the
next 3 years Jim carried Ruby’s photo with him across the world in the
South and North Pacific Ocean, and the Coral, China, Solomon and Java
seas where he worked on a refueling ship and then as a submarine hunter.