Opinion

Mystery solved, Boswell medals all returned

Thursday, April 28, 2016

As mysteries go, the tale we shared in this very space last Friday didn't quite have the staying power or cachet of the Holy Grail, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart or the pirate treasure of Oak Island.

Nonetheless, it was the touching saga of a local man, Rex. O. Boswell, and how the precious medals he earned defending his country fell into my lap ... or at least ended up on the top of a dusty shelf in the basement of my new Greencastle home.

No sooner had last Friday's paper hit the streets than calls and emails began to provide clues as to who Rex Boswell was and how his medals ended up in my possession.

First off, let's report that those medals -- 13 in all, including the cherished Purple Heart -- thankfully are no longer in my possession.

Certainly I didn't want their survival on my conscience should the dog somehow have gotten ahold of them. Or had the maid decided that the dusty, old packet in which they were bundled up just needed to be thrown out ... Oh wait, I don't have a maid, housekeeper or anyone of the female persuasion around to care just how dusty and musty things get. So forgive me if places in my new abode seem more fraternity house than home.

But believe me, I was overjoyed to hear a phone message last Friday night from Terri Grayson of Cloverdale -- daughter of the late Betty Hartsaw, who was the sister of mystery man Rex Boswell, and former co-owner of my new house with the late Don Crawford.

Grayson was so thrilled to learn that the missing medals had resurfaced that she left two messages on my phone and a handwritten note on my back door after playfully warning me with "I know where you live."

So less than 24 hours after the story was in print, the medals were handed off to Grayson. But not before she shared intriguing stories of Boswell (her uncle) and her mother and my house.

She was not the only one who contacted me, however. Jinsie Bingham, ever the local historian, left a lengthy message tying the Boswell family to Greencastle lore and informing me the girls were members of the DAR, which could use a little publicity out of the occasion (so there you go, Jinsie).

An email from Sheridin Hartsaw McCutcheon began with an exclamation: "My Uncle Rex!" before noting that his daughter, Trudy Boswell Wright, resides in Roachdale.

Rex Boswell, McCutcheon noted, was "the 10th child of Oscar and Marie (Martin) Boswell" and proudly served in the U.S. Army.

"We are very proud of him," the email added. "Small in stature, large in heart. Very dear to my heart!"

Also leaving a phone message was Courtney Campbell, whose number I apparently misheard or wrote down incorrectly somehow because I kept calling someone named Steven McFarland enough times that he called me back to say he knew nothing about the medals I was referring to.

Nonetheless, Courtney offered up more information as well, like the fact Rex Boswell is buried at Brick Chapel.

But Grayson had the most to share, telling of how Rex's small stature allowed him to be a "tunnel rat" in Vietnam, where he scurried into the tight recesses of tunnels created by the Viet Cong over two tours of duty. He decided against a third tour, she said, indicating that kept him from being a 25-year career military man.

Overjoyed to see those precious medals, Grayson said those found in my basement were actually replacements for what Boswell had been awarded previously.

The family is uncertain when and how the originals were lost and heartbroken that the whereabouts of the replacements -- the one and only chance you get to replace such medals -- had also become a mystery.

Meanwhile, I learned about how my house did once have an underground garage as had been the legend I was told, and how the backyard had once captured a landscaping award of some kind (like that will ever happen again).

Besides the precious Purple Heart, Boswell's awards included a Meritorious Service Medal, World War II Army Occupation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Korean Service Medal and more. Some 13 pieces in all.

Trust that they are all in good hands now.

Mystery solved, the medals are back with the people who will cherish them forever. Back with family. Back with the people who loved Rex Boswell the most. Back honoring a war hero -- as well they should be.

Let's just say I am thrilled to have had some small part in making that happen.