US Navy veteran gets back wallet lost 53 years ago in Antarctica

Paul Grisham holds his 1968 Navy ID card at his home in San Diego Image Nelvin C Cepeda/AP)

Paul Grisham, a retired US Navy meteorologist, received his wallet which was lost 53 years ago in Antarctica. The 91-year-old, now residing in California's San Diego, was left shocked on finding the wallet which he never thought to see again.

The wallet included his Navy ID card, a pocket reference card, tax withholding statement, a beer punch card and small mementos linked to his assignment in Antarctica, a local daily reported.

Grisham was in the continent in 1967 on a 13-month assignment linked to US Navy's "Operation Deep Freeze".

A resident of Douglas, Arizona, Grisham had joined the naval forces in 1948, and retired in 1977. During the three-decade tenure, he served as weather technician and then a weather forecaster.

His wallet in Antarctica was found in 2014, during the demolition of a building at McMurdo Station on Ross Island of the continent.

While Grisham's ID cards were recognisable, finding him was a challenge and took nearly six years.

Two New Hampshire residents Stephen Decato and his daughter Sarah Lindbergh, and Bruce McKee, a member of the nonprofit Indiana Spirit of '45, had gained a reputation after returning a navy service ID bracelet to its owner. They were approached by the authorities to similarly find Grisham.

It was Lindbergh who finally succeeded in finding Grisham through the Naval Weather Service Association. "There was a long series of people involved who tracked me down and ran me to ground," the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Grisham as saying.