Turney Leonard graduated from Texas A&M University in College Station in 1942. Just like the rest of his classmates he received a valuable gold ring. He signed up for the U.S. Army shortly afterwards and was deployed to Europe in 1944. Here he distinguished himself as an incredibly courageous soldier at the Battle of Hürtgen Forest near Kommerscheidt. Leonard was killed, but his ring was found by a German boy.

Turney Leonard graduated from Texas A&M University in College Station in 1942. It is a famous university where even nowadays cadets are trained to take important positions in the U.S. Army. Upon graduation he received a valuable gold ring engraved with his name, just like the rest of his classmates.

Shortly after graduating, he signed up for the U.S Army. Not long after his training he was deployed to Europe in 1944. Here he distinguished himself as an extremely courageous soldier at the Battle of Kommerscheidt in the German Hürtgen Forest. Leonard did not survive the battle. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest American military award, for his actions.

After Leonard’s exhumation in Kommerscheidt in 1946, a German boy discovered the ring. Alfred Hutmacher was only 17 years old at the time and was forced by the U.S. Army to fill open graves. He took the ring home and forgot about it.

Fifty-four years later, while talking to his son-in-law, Volker Lossner, about the war and their house in Kommerscheidt, he remembered the ring. They studied the ring in detail and decided to return it to the family of Turney Leonard. What followed was an extraordinary story with a happy ending.