Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
VERNAL — Going out and hunting for buried treasure may seem like a simple hobby or a way to kill time for some, but for one veteran, taking on this activity as a new hobby turned out to be a call to complete a mission.
On an empty lot in Vernal littered with soda cans and other junk, Louis Haynes found himself scanning the area with his metal detector about a month and a half ago — little did he know that he was about to discover a lost piece of history that would end up carrying a deep sense of significance with himself and his own history.
Haynes had unearthed a medallion made in 1930 that was given to the surviving families of fallen American soldiers who had lost their lives overseas during World War I. After further research, Haynes was able to learn that the medallion was given to the mother of a fallen soldier, Rebecca Fannie Burns, who had visited his gravesite in France as part of a pilgrimage family members took to see the burial sites of their loved ones who had died overseas during the war — the name of the fallen soldier was Pvt. Hubert Hyrum Burns from Randlett, Uintah County.
"I knew immediately that it wasn't something that I wanted to hold on to," said Haynes, a veteran who served in the Army during Desert Storm 33 years ago. "It's a memento of a fallen soldier; it should either be held by their family or displayed to the public in a museum."
After identifying the medallion's origin, Haynes wasted no time searching for living members of the fallen soldier's family. Through the enlisted help of local Facebook connections and metal detector enthusiast forums, Haynes was able to track down the grandson and granddaughter of the fallen soldier's mother who were still living in Utah. So, he made the trip and was successful in completing his mission of returning the medallion to its rightful owners.
"Being able to reintroduce that medallion to the family was incredible," Haynes said. "It was wonderful to be a part of returning that medallion to the family."
Amazingly, Haynes learned that his and Hubert Burns' life stories shared a remarkable amount of similarities. As it turns out, Burns and Hubert had grown up in the same mountain valley in Oregon, 13 miles and 48 years apart. Even more, both men were serving their country in combat when they were 23 years old.
Haynes largely credits a nonprofit organization called Metal Detectors 4 Veterans for picking him up off his feet and giving him a brand new "mission" to fulfill after Terry Soloman, the president of the organization, sent him a metal detector for use as a tool to help remedy the veteran's post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I didn't sit behind a desk," Haynes said, elaborating that his time in Desert Storm was spent on active duty where he saw things he could never hope to forget. "I led soldiers into combat and didn't bring all of them home — so I deal with PTSD."
Metal Detectors 4 Veterans, established just a year and a half ago, puts metal detectors in the hands of veterans who are dealing with PTSD and need a hobby or a community to engage with. According to Soloman, the organization has already helped 70 veterans across all 50 states.
"Louis' story is what this is all about, getting this guy dealing with PTSD out of the house and giving him a new purpose," Soloman said, speaking about Haynes' experience. "What Louis found was a piece of genuine American history. For him to be able to find something like that and return it to the grandkids, who are now in their 80s and 90s, is something that's beyond belief to me."
Soloman encourages veterans struggling with PTSD or those who have a loved one who is a vet suffering from PTSD to visit Metal Detectors 4 Veterans' website and get in contact with him for the opportunity to engage in a healthy hobby and connect with an understanding community of fellow veterans.
