Oklahoma
'A Gesture Of Kindness:' Oklahoma Man Reunited With Late Father's Military Medals
A man hasn’t seen his father’s military medals in four years, but, has them back Monday night thanks to a kindhearted woman.
Kyle Arrington lost his storage unit that had the medals inside. The woman who bought it found the medals and held on to them until she found Arrington.
Kyle says he’s grateful to have this important piece of his family history, back again.
Arrington says getting these medals back restores his faith in humanity because the woman could have just thrown them away.
He says when he lost his storage unit, he didn’t realize his father’s medals were inside it until he got an unexpected phone call.
“When it was explained to me what the mementos were I was absolutely floored because I thought I had the box accounted for and obviously I didn’t, and it was nice of her to hold it for so long and then to finally track me down to give it back to me,” Kyle said.
The woman who tracked down Arrington and returned the medals to him did not want to be identified.
She told News On 6 that she knew this was something she had to do because she would want someone to do the same for her.
Kyle’s father was Sergeant Vincent Arrington and he served for more than three decades as a civil engineer in the Oklahoma National Guard.
“My father was the type of person who was extremely loyal … If there was anything my father was good at, it was making worthwhile suggestions when it came to engineering,” Kyle said.
Sergeant Arrington earned a Berlin Airlift medal for dropping food to families in Berlin after the Soviet Union made a blockade to stop supplies.
“Almost like a tear coming into my eyes to know that he was over there for two weeks away from his family and to help other people get fed,” Kyle said.
He said getting the medals back was amazing and that he knew it was not easy for the woman who bought the storage unit to find him.
“She found a piece of mail, found an address, tracked the address. Literally, I had probably five addresses since then so it took a lot of tracking,” he said.
He says he will always be grateful to have them back because it’s nice to know people care.
“It’s a gesture of kindness, of respect for the military, of what some people have in respect for families of the military,” Kyle said.
Vincent Arrington passed away in 2002, and Kyle says now that he has the box, he’ll never let it out of his sight again.
Catch up on Oklahoma’s top headlines of the week for Dec. 12, 2025
Here are Oklahoma’s top headlines of the week for Dec. 12, 2025
A Pawnee native who died in a Japanese prison during World War II is headed back to Oklahoma after officials identified his body 82 years later.
James M. Walker was an infantry corporal stationed on the Philippine Islands when Japan invaded in December 1941. U.S. forces battled the Japanese in intense fighting for months, but ultimately surrendered to the invaders in April 1942.
After being taken prisoner, Walker and thousands of other prisoners of war were forced to travel 65 miles to a prison camp on the notorious Bataan Death March. More than 2,500 POWs are reported to have died at the camp.
Prison camp records showed he died on Jan. 1, 1943 at the age of 46, but he was buried in a common grave with other deceased prisoners. After the war, the American Graves Registration Service exhumed the bodies, collected samples for identification analysis and reburied the remains in a memorial cemetery in Manila.
To identify Walker’s remains, scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA analysis and mitochondrial genome sequencing data.
Although interred as an “unknown” for decades, Walker’s grave was meticulously cared for by the American Battle Monuments Commission. His name is listed on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate his remains have been identified.
Upon his return to the United States, Walker will be buried in Maramec, Oklahoma in January 2026.
OKLAHOMA CITY, (KOKH) — Oklahoma City police responded to a fatal shooting in the 2600 block of N. Kelly Friday evening.
According to OKCPD, the shooting occurred at around 6:20 p.m.
When officers arrived, they located one adult male with gunshot wounds at the scene. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital where he later died during surgery.
Police believe the shooting was a result of a verbal argument that escalated into a fistfight and then a shooting.
The suspect has been taken into custody and transported to police headquarters for questioning.
This is a developing story; please check back for updates.
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Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-0) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (6-3)
Oklahoma City; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma takes on Oklahoma State at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The Sooners are 6-3 in non-conference play. Oklahoma is 1-0 in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Cowboys are 9-0 in non-conference play. Oklahoma State ranks eighth in the Big 12 with 16.9 assists per game led by Jaylen Curry averaging 5.1.
Oklahoma averages 84.7 points, 8.3 more per game than the 76.4 Oklahoma State gives up. Oklahoma State scores 16.3 more points per game (91.3) than Oklahoma gives up to opponents (75.0).
TOP PERFORMERS: Nijel Pack is scoring 17.2 points per game with 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the Sooners. Tae Davis is averaging 13.3 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 53.3%.
Vyctorius Miller is averaging 15.9 points for the Cowboys. Parsa Fallah is averaging 14.6 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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