Nearly half-century old POW bracelet bonds strangers

On Saturday, both men will meet for the first time.

Flowers was an eighth grader in 1968 when his parents bought him a POW bracelet.

“Back then, from what I understand, they bought it and when the prisoner of war either came home or they located him, we was supposed to try and get this bracelet to them,” he said.

Schrump was a former U.S. Army major who served in Vietnam and Korea.

"May 23, 1968, I was captured by the Vietcong and held until February 12, 1973," he said.

Schrump, whose many military honors include a Purple Heart, said he thought he was going to die five times while held captive.

"I guess I was right on the verge of dying,” he said. “I couldn't walk. I was coughing up blood all from the malnutrition and disease.”

Both men will meet at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville.

"I just want to get it back to him,” he said. “He’s been through all that and he's home. And that what was the purpose for it. A lot of them didn't make it home."

John Elskamp of the Veteran's Legacy Foundation helped the two men connect and will be with them on Saturday.

Schrump is looking forward to the meeting.

"I get very emotional and I feel like I've known this man all my life and I haven't met him yet,” he said.