Navy veteran Don Schmick’s WWII jacket returned

Don Schmick of Colfax Nov. 13 got his World War II coat back.

“It was a real surprise,” Schmick said.

The coat was presented to him at The Courtyard by Coriann Ulrich of Moses Lake who discovered the leather jacket at a thrift store in Spokane. Ulrich found a D. Schmick marking in the coat and was able to link it to Colfax after she found 1950s receipts from the Colfax Conoco gas station.

She began calling down a list of Schmicks in Colfax and Spokane and located Don in Colfax. She called him on Veteran’s Day to report she had the coat and presented it to him at The Courtyard Nov. 13.

Schmick said he missed the coat when he moved into The Courtyard from his home.

He said he received the jacket in Norfolk, Va., during World War II when he was serving aboard a landing craft support ship.

“I’ve had the jacket all this time,” he said. “It’s unique.”

He said Ulrich wouldn’t take any money for it.

“They didn’t accept any money for gas for bringing it here,” Schmick said. “That’s how kind people still are.”

The coat will stay in his closet from now on.

“I won’t wear it,” he said. “It’s too precious.”