FORT JACKSON, SC -- Keeping with family tradition, Capt. Alan Maszarose, assistant operations officer with the 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. A member of the Class of 2003, one of his proudest moments during his time in the academy was "ring weekend" at the beginning of his senior year, when "firsties" are presented their class rings.
"Certain people who have gone to West Point may have had an easier time, but I had a hard time with academics and things like that at West Point," Maszarose said. "So to me, graduating West Point was a really big accomplishment and ... I felt like I worked really hard to get through that. Having that ring was like a reminder to me of all the hard work that I put into it and that I'd finally made it after four years. It was a reminder to me that if I put my mind to something, whatever it is I want to accomplish, I can."
Not surprisingly, Maszarose said he used to wear the ring proudly as a symbol of his accomplishment - until 2005, that is. During a training exercise while Maszarose was stationed at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the ring disappeared.
"I took it off, because it was getting in the way," Maszarose said. "I put in my pocket and I'm not really sure what happened to it after that. The next day I noticed that it was gone. I tore my whole apartment up, tore my office up. I couldn't find it. I just knew it was gone after that."
His father, Robert, who graduated from West Point in 1978, said he was a little bit dismayed when he found out that his son's ring had disappeared. Robert Maszarose said he wears his class ring to special occasions and attended his son's ring weekend.
Much to both men's surprise, the elder Maszarose received a phone call from officials at West Point in October 2009 that the ring had been found in Mississippi by a man walking his dog.
"How it got down there, I have no idea," his son said, adding that he had never been to Mississippi.
The mystery behind the ring's journey will probably never be solved, but the Soldier's father said he was not totally surprised by the find.
"You hear all kinds of really wacky stories about West Point rings," he said. "They always kind of find their way home."
Considering that it was missing for more than four years, the ring is in remarkable shape, Alan Maszarose said.
"It's a little beat up. It's got some nicks on it and some of the polish is taken off it, but the stone's good," he said. "I definitely thought it was going to be half destroyed, but it's still in pretty good shape. I was surprised."
He said he is grateful to the finder, who contacted West Point to find the owner of the ring.
"I think it speaks a lot to (his) character and the type of guy that he is," the captain said. "He went out of his way to try to find me. I really can't thank him enough for that because I think that's something you don't see a lot nowadays - people going out of their way to help somebody else."
As for the ring itself, the relieved Soldier said he definitely won't wear it on the range again.
"I don't really wear it at all," he said. "I keep it at home in a little box inside another box and it stays there."
Social Sharing