That veteran and his family recently got the surprise of a lifetime when they learned the wallet had been found.
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Dr. Josef Ruckhofer told CNN affiliate KFSN that he found the wallet while doing some work at his late grandfather’s farmhouse in Salzburg, Austria.
Ramos served with the 250th field artillery.
70 years later, while Ramos was having breakfast with his daughter, Sylvia Gonzalez, 72, they received a letter from Ruckhofer’s grandson, Dr Josef Ruckhofer, who had inherited the farm. “Somebody found your wallet you lost in 1945 in Austria”.’.
But one thing Ramos never expected to see again was the wallet he lost when his battalion took shelter in an Austrian farmhouse in 1945. His son, Rosando, says his dad was present at the liberation of concentration camps.
The two men exchanged letters, and Ruckhofer packaged and sent the wallet to California.
This special wallet wasn’t home to just money, but also some of his most prized family photos. Now it’s back in his hands for the first time in 70 years.
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After an online check of Texas phone directories failed to turn up results, Ruckhofer expanded his search to the whole of the United States. It was full of family photos and other sentimental items, and Ramos thought he had lost it forever. A reunion celebration was held at the Fresno VA hospital. Eligio Ramos had been staying in a farmhouse with his battalion when he misplaced his leather wallet filled with pictures and memories. “It’s been through a lot, so we’re going to frame everything that was inside – all the pictures, all the military paperwork he had in there. Everything will be on exhibit at our house”, said Rosando.
