BERLIN, Conn. — For a local retired marine, the last 24 hours have been a roller coaster of emotion. A priceless possession was stolen, only to be found by a Good Samaritan hours later.
“A lot of emotion. Not knowing if I would ever get it back,” remarked Vincent Trigila of Berlin. “I was pretty bummed out,” he added.
For Vinny, a retired Marine from Berlin, money can’t replace the memories.
“I keep nothing of value in my truck other than this," said Vinny
It was 6:00 a.m. Friday. Vinny left work at PCX Aerosystems on Fenn Road in Newington to find the window of his truck smashed.
“I said okay, well it’s gone forever,” recalled Vinny.
The only thing stolen was a banker's envelope. But it didn’t contain money.
“It’s just a part of me,” said Vinny.
The envelope was used to store Vinny’s military cover. The hat was a gift from one of his friends, deceased Vietnam Veteran, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart hero Pete Hodge.
Recognizing the sentimental value it held, Vinny’s daughter Lisa Gagliardi made a post on social media to alert the community.
“It's incredible,” said Lisa. The post was shared over 120 times. Hours passed and suddenly Lisa got a message from a friend of a friend saying the military cover was located by a man named Josh.
FOX61 caught up with the good Samaritan, Joshua Wantek, at his home in Berlin. Josh said he was driving to a work appointment when something caught his eye on the grass off Fenn Road.
“Amazingly, I was able to find it the same day for Lisa and Vinny. You never hear good stories like this ever. I was just super glad to reunite it with its rightful owner,” said Josh.
The window on Vinny’s truck has since been replaced. It was certainly less important than repairing the hole in his heart.
“It got found. It got found. Made its trial through and I’m standing here right now with this,” remarked Vinny as he welled up with emotion.
His message to the community…“There are people out there who aren’t very nice. We live in a very volatile world. We need to look out for one another.”
It wasn’t just the military cover itself that was special, a pin affixed to it was given to Vinny by another late marine named Richard Rampone.
Vinny also happens to be the commander of the American Legion Post 68 in Berlin. He told FOX61 he considers himself lucky and might play the lottery.
Vinny did make a report of the theft with the Newington Police. Surveillance video captured the incident on camera but wasn’t clear enough to provide any critical information.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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