Do you know who the serviceman is in these photos? If so, email jason.lamb@newschannel5.com -- we would love to help Doug find the family to give these photos to!
A Nashville man is on a quest to find the family of an unidentified serviceman in two World War II-era photos, so he can, in his words, "help send him home."
The two photos have had several caretakers over the years. 84-year-old Doug Rutherford came across them 8 years ago, when his chiropractor gave them to him, thinking Doug might have gone to the same Old Hickory-area high school as the unidentified serviceman.
Rutherford, who spends a lot of his time at the Hermitage Strike and Spare competing in a bowling league, says he's tried just about everything to find out who the serviceman in the photos is.
Rutherford is a total stranger to the man in the photo. He doesn't know anything about him, other than the few clues the photo can provide.
But he says he was compelled to give the photos to the serviceman's family, wherever they may be, out of respect for the family and the military.
"It’s just a thing I wanted to do," Rutherford said. "I guess you can call it being patriotic, you can call it what you want to, but the main thing is to find a home for him."
"I've often wondered if maybe I had been in the military myself if I would be a whole lot better man than what I am today," Rutherford said.
While it may be true that Rutherford never donned a uniform like the one in the photos he's carried for eight years, his friends say his quest to complete this mission for someone he doesn’t even know, is a high act of service in itself.
"I know the family would appreciate it, and I would appreciate that the photos finally had a home," Rutherford said.
