SEDLEY
When Kelby Lilly began weeding his garden on June 13, he was only expecting to dig up a few glass bottles or other such antiquities.

“We are always finding ‘treasures’ in our garden, as our children call them,” Lilly said.

Instead, he found a dog tag registered to one Wesley Wills. Lilly enlisted his wife, Allison, to post their discovery to Facebook, asking if anyone had information about the whereabouts of Wills.

“I felt that he would appreciate having it back,” he said. “Honestly, we didn’t know if he was living or not, and thought that his family would want it.”

Thus began a social media campaign to locate the man. Wills later said that nearly 60 people called and left voicemails, emails and, in one memorable instance, left a note on his front door.

In a matter of hours, Wills’ granddaughter, Michelle Reed, contacted the Lilly family.

“I was at my granddaughter’s graduation party when she came out on the back porch, and said, ‘Pepaw, you’re on Facebook.’ And I said, ‘Why in the world am I on Facebook?’’’ Wills said.

Wills never knew that the dog tag was lost. “Dog tags come in twos on a chain,” he said, “and I always thought both of mine were on the chain with my uniform in my attic.”

Wills lived in the Lillys’ home in Sedley for four years following his service in World War II.

“My garden was nowhere near where the Lillys’ keep theirs,” Wills said. “It’s just a miracle that it was found like it was.”

Wills said that he recognized the dog tag as he can still clearly recall the ID number on it.

“When Mr. Wills came over, he was able to look in the house that he lived in almost 60 years ago,” said Lilly. “It was a pleasure meeting him. And we are thankful for his service all those years ago.”