David Rutter

When I was about 8 years old my Mom married a man I called 'Uncle Doug'. I was told in time to call him 'Dad'. Then I wondered when my sister was born, why I never had a Dad as a baby.

I was told he got killed in the war. I never doubted this until I saw my birth certificate and when I asked Mom she told me he was an American officer she had met in 1944/5, that she only new him for a few months and that he was then shipped out to Europe. She never saw him again. She said his name was James Cain and he was a First Lieutenant - that's all she knew.

I tried unsuccessfully to find him in the 1980s and then never bothered again until I was 64 when a friend told me about GI Trace.

The resulting search was amazing. After contacting Dr. Niels Zussblatt, the NPRC sent me all the information I needed, including a photo I had never seen of this man before. My late Mother was alive and staying with us at the time and she recognised him straight away, he was in his forties and still in uniform, only now he was a Colonel. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2004, but had three children, Lawton, Mike and Melinda, who by a massive stroke of luck for me was married to a Dr. Jeff Reinhardt, who just happened to have a website!!!!

I managed to contact him and told him my story, he told his wife, she told Mike's wife, Martha and we made contact. We then talked on Skype and I saw my brother Mike and the rest is history.

I flew to Atlanta on 2nd May 2011 and managed to meet all my siblings. They made me very welcome and showed me all round the area where my father used to live and then took me to his final resting place. I now feel complete as a person and my life has been enriched beyond compare.

Thank You GI Trace and all you wonderful people on there.

David