It takes courage to watch your child go off to war. Like many other military moms, Mary Thelen of Fort Worth adopted that special combination of sacrifice and pride.
She has multiple scrapbooks of every single memory she could collect the time her son, Douglas, spent deployed through four tours of duty.
Douglas has since moved to another state but, he left memories behind. Among them, was a ring.
“And I asked where he got it, and he said, 'I found it somewhere in Iraq.' And I said, 'Well, where were you?' And he said, 'I think I was in Baghdad, but I’m not sure,'” Thelen recalled.
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She recently came across that ring again when cleaning out her garage in Fort Worth. With a selfless love and dedication that distinguishes military moms, she has vowed to get this ring back where it belongs.
“I want the family of the soldier of this ring to have it. If it was my son that lost the ring, I hope somebody would be as kind and try to find me or try to find my son,” Thelan said.
The ring has many distinguishing features. On top of the ring, the stone is surrounded by the words “United States Army” and one side, a nickname, “T-Bone.”
“It has a deck of cards fanned open with a great big 'A' for the ace,” Thelen said.
The other side is emblazoned with an American flag and the word “Texas,” hinting the wearer was native to the Lone Star State.
Finally, the biggest clue of all, is his name, "Terry Sheppard Junior."
Thelen says her son didn’t give much information.
“I don’t know where it was found, whether it was in a tent, whether it was in the sand, whether it was a truck,” Thelan said.
NBC 5 Responds reached out to the company that made the ring, Texas-based Balfour. Their chief marketing officer Melissa Goodis said, “This customer’s order was submitted through a retailer and that retailer only used paper forms. This particular branch closed, and the documents were disposed of in 2017. The only information we have for this order is the original retailer, which was Nacol’s Jewelry."
Military rings, Thelen says, are a great source of pride, a salute to the brave military member or veteran who wears them.
They are custom-made and engraved with emblems and words that tell a personal story. She knows the ring means something to someone, somewhere out there.
“And I’ll keep looking till I find him,” Thelan said.
If you have any information that could reunite this ring with its original owner, let us know by contacting us via email at NBC5Responds@nbcdfw.com.
