London: A piece of graffiti inscribed 72 years ago in the UK has connected a World War II US soldier with his 100-year-old widow.
Volunteers with the Eighth in the East project discovered the inscription during a survey of RAF Raydon near Ipswich in Suffolk.
Bruce Glenn scratched his name and home town into concrete in 1943.
Project manager David Cain said his details proved easy to trace because he came from the small Oklahoma town of Fargo, with fewer than 300 residents.
RAF Raydon was home to Fighter Squadrons of the US Eighth Army Air Force during World War II.
"From the records we have accessed we're pretty sure we've found the right man," Cain was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"The dates of birth and location fits with Bruce and that he was a driver prior to the war," Cain said.
Glenn was enlisted in October 1942 and he served in the US army for four years.
He died in 2002, but his widow Clarice, who lives in Richmond, Columbia, recently celebrated her 100th birthday by renewing her driving licence.
The project has asked Glenn's local newspaper, the Tri- City Herald, to put it in touch with her.
The Eighth in the East is a Heritage Lottery Fund programme of community archaeology that explores the legacy of the 8th USAAF during their time in Britain during World War II.
