Looking for NX14771: A Story of War, Heroism and Closure

In the little boy’s heart, happy as he was, there remained a vague ache.

How can you miss something, someone, you never knew? But he had the dog-tag. That would do. That brought him close. He took to wearing it in early teens—and tried to engrave his own name on its reverse side using the sharp point of a drawing compass, perhaps somehow to join himself with the missing owner. I can see those marks as I hold it in my hand today…’

With scant information after the passage of many years, it’s a tall order to ‘find’ the father who died in World War 2, never knowing his son; unless—a Guiding Hand should assist the searching son, by bringing that father (a decorated war hero) to ‘life’. Here, in Ian Heard’s search, a ripping yarn becomes a gripping yarn—and, an extraordinary, and true adventure of discovery.

A story told to hundreds in service clubs, churches, and at an ANZAC Day commemoration, this is that story now in print, to inspire those who’ve lost family in war or who wonder where to start in their own journey of dicovery. A modern parable of war, heroism—and closure.