East Bay Pearl Harbor Survivor Has Stolen Item Replaced
SAN LEANDRO (CBS SF) -- An elderly World War II veteran who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor met with a good Samaritan in San Leandro Thursday afternoon to receive a gift replacing a piece of U.S. Navy memorabilia stolen in a car burglary earlier this month.
San Leandro police Lt. Jeff Tudor said that in the April 4 burglary, someone took several items belonging to Michael Ganitch, 92, including a U.S. Navy sextant, a sea tool used to measure angles between objects.
The story came to the attention of the good Samaritan, a former San Leandro resident, who was heartbroken by the tale, Tudor said.
The good Samaritan purchased a replacement sextant for Ganitch, and presented it to him at the San Leandro Police Department Thursday afternoon.
Tudor said the man who bought the sexton is from a military family and felt distraught that someone would take a sentimental object from "someone who did so much for this country."
The man contacted Tudor to set up a meeting to give Ganitch the replacement sextant, but has emphasized that he doesn't want the exchange to be about him, Tudor said.
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