BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A World War II memorabilia collector in France has found paratrooper gear carried by an American D-Day veteran who went on to become an accomplished athlete before being slain at his Buffalo workplace in the 1970s.
WIVB-TV reports a story it did on Jim Hewson in May led an artifact collector in Normandy to contact Hewson’s family in Buffalo with the news that he had acquired a belt and suspenders bearing Hewson’s registration number.
Hewson survived the D-Day assault on June 6, 1944. Despite injuries suffered in the jump, his post-war athletic exploits included winning dozens of medals at rowing regattas and competing in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics as a race walker.
Hewson was 62 when he was beaten to death in October 1978 while working as a lift bridge operator in Buffalo. His slaying remains unsolved.
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