TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Local Vet's Canteen Cup Featured In Ripley's Cartoon

ADVERTISEMENT

By LINNEA BROWN

Hernando Today

Published: August 25, 2008

Updated: 08/25/2008 01:02 pm

BROOKSVILLE - If you'd told Pfc. Leonard Noreen a month ago he would be getting national attention for the World War II military canteen cup he lost more than 60 years ago, he wouldn't have believed you.

He can hardly believe it now.

But after a July 23 article in Hernando Today told of the Brooksville resident, 83, getting the cup back from a Michigan resident who found the relic in the woods in the early '70s, Noreen has certainly been in the spotlight.

Calls from TV and radio stations, clamoring to interview him.

Calls from collectors, eager to purchase the item.

Calls from citizens across the country, wondering if he fought alongside their relatives in the historic Battle of the Ardennes in December 1944, later known as the Battle of The Bulge.

"It's so much notoriety I can't believe it," Noreen said.

The story ran in several other Media General-owned newspapers in other states and Noreen was interviewed on CNN, among other media outlets.

And now, his story will be featured in the longest continually running cartoon in the world, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which has been published in newspapers across the globe since 1929.

Recently, Noreen received a visit from Ripley's official cartoonist, Wesley Chapel-based John Graziano.

Graziano — who is only the fifth person to draw Ripley's cartoons since its inception — draws 22 cartoons per week with unusual-but-true facts from across the world. He works with an editor and researchers who feed him information on what to cover each day, and decided to cover Noreen's story in person when he realized he lived in the area.

Like many other residents who read Noreen's story, Graziano, 46, also felt a particular desire to connect in person, he said.

Noreen is the same age as his father, and Graziano knew his wife — a history buff — would enjoy the visit.

"My wife is very into the historical (context) of things, and when they played the clip on TV, I knew she would be crying," he said. "That's exactly what happened."

Graziano said he also wanted to see the cup, upon which Noreen kept track of each of the foreign countries and cities he visited during his tour in the 106th Infantry of the U.S. Army, inscribed into the cup's soft aluminum with a knife.

Detailed lists appear on each side of the cup, complete with cities, dates and "smash and drive," the motto of his unit, the 422nd Regiment.

"The cup is more of a celebrity than I am," Noreen said.

After he returned from the war, he lost track of the cup in the mid-'40s in upstate New York — until last month, when he received a phone call from a woman who'd found it and tracked him down.

Monica Hill, a resident of Owosso, Mich., said she initially found it more than 30 years ago in the woods near the New York home where she grew up. She spent years using it as a change holder, and finally found Noreen in July after years of searching. She put it in the mail the next day.

Graziano said Ripley's officials are also interested in displaying the cup at one of their museums, which showcases unusual items and the stories behind them.

And no one could be more thrilled than Noreen's children, who have been encouraging the donation.

Since Noreen's military records were destroyed in a fire in the 1970s, his son, Brooksville transmission specialist Eric Noreen, 51, said his father has had problems getting his pension and other benefits — making Ripley's seem like a safer option than the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"Everyone's asking him for this cup," he said. "We're not sure yet, but I think Ripley's would be the place for it. That way, his grandkids will have a place to go see it when they grow up."

Noreen said he's just waiting for the unexpected attention to die down.

He said he has fielded numerous comments from strangers while running errands — a factor that has not gone unnoticed by his family.

"My brother called me the other day and said, 'Can I speak to the superstar? I can't ever get a hold of him since he became famous,'" his son said.

The cup's founder, Hill, chuckled at the news of the object being featured in the Ripley's cartoon, and said it has also been big news in Michigan.

"I was at the park the other day and these two men with metal detectors walked by, and one said to the other, 'Maybe we'll find a canteen cup, like (that woman) did,'" she said. "I didn't tell them who I was, but it was still amazing to hear."

The Ripley's cartoon depicting the story of Noreen's cup is scheduled to run Oct. 13. For more information, visit www.comics.com.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT