(Navy Destroyer's Bell)....The bell had been missing.

Ironically, no one knew it was missing. The bell was from the Navy Destroyer USS Dunlap, that saw action in World War 2. When the ship was decommissioned the bell was sent to the Naval History and Heritage Command. They, in turn, loaned the bell to Brown University in Providence Road Island for display. The NHHC thought it was still there. It wasn't. Years ago a man bought the bell at a yard sale in Soledad, California. When that man passed away, the bell was left to family members. It wound up in the hands of Dana Mace, a resident of Imperial County. Mace wanted to return the bell to where it belonged. He researched the ship's namesake, and the ship's history. He wound up contacting the NHHC, who in turn asked that he take the bell to NAF El Centro, who would send the bell back to NHHC.