An American war veteran looking for Maltese friends he met 70 years ago is returning to Malta to celebrate his 96th birthday and to donate his army uniform to the National War Museum.
This time, Herb Tollefson will be visiting with John Mifsud Jr, the son of one of his wartime buddies whom he met after speaking to Times of Malta last year.
During his visit this summer, Mr Tollefson hopes to donate his US Army Air Corps uniform, which still fits him, while Mr Mifsud Jr will donate the WWII medals that were awarded to his father, Sliema Police Sergeant John Mifsud Sr, 70 years ago.
Mr Tollefson, his family and Mr Mifsud Jr will be in Malta for only a few days, during which they plan to celebrate the veteran’s birthday on June 29.
The donations will take place on July 4, which coincidentally marks America’s Independence Day.
Mr Tollefson would like to meet friends or relatives of his wartime buddies, especially anyone related to the family of Carmelo Borg and the Mifsuds.
Mr Tollefson, from Marysville, Washington, was 24 when he was sent to Malta as part of a group of 14 mechanics on detached service in 1943. Here he met Ninu Borg, Mike the cook and young ‘Yank’ who waited on customers at the Melita Bar, at the Ferries, in Sliema.
These, he believes, were relatives of Carmelo Borg, who owned the bar and the house where the young group of mechanics lived in.
Although last year he did not manage to meet any of the people he was looking for in Malta, when he returned home he discovered that the son of one of his war friends lived in the US too.
John Mifsud Jr, the son of Police Sergeant John Mifsud Sr, lives in Oakland, California.The 62-year-old sadly had to tell him that the sergeant he was looking for had passed away.
But when he flew to Washington to meet Mr Tollefson over Christmas, the two built a “strong, new friendship”.
And this summer, Mr Mifsud Jr will act as a personal guide for Mr Tollefson, much like his father did 70 years ago.