Blue Springs man searches for owner of Vietnam veteran’s hat

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A young man from Blue Springs, Missouri is looking for the owner of a hat he found on the side of the road in Independence. But it’s not just any hat, it’s a Vietnam veteran’s hat with an emblem attached.

Talk about being at the right place at the right time. That’s how Hayden Harves is feeling right now and he’s hoping this story ends with the best possible outcome.

Harves was driving out of a parking lot onto East Jackson Drive when he spotted the hat.

“I was able to see that it was a Vietnam veteran hat,” he said.

The hat had something on it that made it stand out. He decided to turn back around and pick it up.

“It’s mainly on the front, this metal emblem, it’s got wings on it, a blade on the front and it’s actually pinned through the cloth in a high-quality way like it doesn’t look like somebody’s just stuck it on,” Harves said.

It appears to be Army aircrew wing.

“The emblem seems to have more sentiment to be than the hat for the owner if I had to guess,” Harves said.

The hat landed in the right hands. Harves said his grandfather served in the Navy.

“My family is very appreciative of everyone who served in this country to help make our country safer and I figured whoever served here to have this hat or the family of them it’s likely incredibly important to them and would mean a lot to just try to get this back,” he added.

He took to social media, posting pictures of the hat in a community page, with not a lot of luck.

But there’s one possibility.

Sunday, the night Harves found the hat, was the same day the National Legacy Riders left from American Legion Post 21 Independence with 200 to 300 riders escorting the Traveling Vietnam Wall to Warrensburg and eventually heading to New Orleans.

And where he found the hat, wasn’t far from a hotel and restaurant like Hereford House.

It might seem like searching for a needle in a haystack, but Harves said he’s not giving up.

“It would also just mean the world to me to know that somebody who lost something important to them was able to get it back,” he said.

For now, he’s holding onto the hat, hoping this story gets to the right person.

FOX4 called Legion Post 21 earlier this week, giving them the heads up about the hat.

They hadn’t heard of anyone calling in asking for it but are now aware of it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.