East Lyme — Eighteen years ago, Tamara Heinjus was wading in shallow water in Hume Dam, a reservoir in New South Wales, Australia, when something dug into her foot.

What she pulled from the water, after brushing off the dirt, she realized, was a single, metal dog tag belonging to an American soldier.

"I instinctively knew the person on the tag wasn't alive. I can't explain it, I just knew," Heinjus said by e-mail recently.

The dog tag belonged to Angelo Calla of Pennsylvania, who served in the Army from May 2, 1942, to Dec. 11, 1945, and died in June 1969 at the age of 46.

On the dog tag is the name "Angelo R Calla," 13082978, his Army serial number, "T42" indicating the year of his tetanus shot, 1942, and his blood type, "A".

Below that is the name of his next of kin, his mother, Concetta Calla, her address, 427 2nd Ave., Johnsonburg, PA, and the family's religion, "C" for Catholic.

The Internet wasn't prevalent at the time Heinjus found the tag so she put it in a box of sentimental items with the hope of one day returning it to the family. She then forgot about it.

Fast-forward eighteen years and Heinjus was able to connect with Christine Firman of Niantic, Calla's niece.

Firman said she was "blown away" by the news.

"What are the chances that after 70-plus years, a piece of my family's history would be found?" she said.

Calla was one of eight children born in the U.S. to Italian parents. All five brothers served in World War II, according to Firman.

Angelo Calla served with the Army's 503rd Parachute Infantry, achieving the rank of technician fourth grade. The 503rd was formed in March 1942, and served in five major combat operations during its three-plus years in the Southwest Pacific Theater.

The regiment achieved the first successful combat jump in the Pacific Theater when it landed at Nadzab Airport in New Guinea on Sept. 5, 1943.

New Guinea is about 2,000 miles away from where Heinjus found the dog tag in Albury Wodonga, a border town between the states of New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. She said the area housed thousands of troops during World War II for training, treatment of tuberculosis and as a place for liberated prisoners of war to recuperate, but has found no indication that the 503rd was ever there.

She did discover that her grandfather, her stepfather's dad, was part of the 21st Brigade, an infantry unit of the Australian Army, which was sent to Nadzab to relieve the 503rd on Sept. 15, 1943.

On Sept. 15 Heinjus rediscovered the dog tag when she was cleaning out boxes in preparation for a visit from her parents.

"The thought crossed my mind that maybe, just maybe, with the Internet so accessible now, I might be able to find the Calla family, and finally return a piece of history," she said in her email.

She was right. It only took her an hour and a half of searching to track down the Calla family. She found an obituary for John Calla, the father of Firman, of Niantic, and saw that Angelo Calla was listed as a pre-deceased sibling.

The obituary included a list of living relatives, and she started with the younger ones, figuring they'd be members of social media sites such as Facebook.

She finally succeeded in contacting Christine Firman's daughter, Jennifer, who alerted her mother.

"I was absolutely thrilled when I received a positive confirmation. It was as though I was reuniting with relatives I've never met," Heinjus said of connecting with the family. "To pass on a piece of family history from such a significant event in time, it's humbling."

Christine Firman is in the process of informing family members, including her cousin, Calla's oldest son, about the discovery of the dog tag.

Heinjus planned to visit the place where she found the dog tag this past weekend, and take a picture of herself with it for Calla's oldest son, which she will send along with the dog tag.

j.bergman@theday.com