Far from Ordinary

An average young adult volunteers as a soldier in World War II. While he is able to overcome incredible battle field challenges they are pale in comparison to what awaits him after leaving military service when he discovers that the War memorabilia he sent his parents at War's end is the desk set that was used to sign the 1938 Munich Pact and many people desperately want to get their hands on it. In 1942 Tommy Martin enters the U. S. Army as an infantryman. He and 15,000 US troops land in Marseille under hectic and nerve-racking conditions. None of the soldiers have been in a ship before or away from home. Most are from small rural areas. Large ocean waves toss the ships sideways as soldiers get seasick. Moving into the smaller transport boats that take them to shore prove perilous as well since many soldiers, unable to swim and carrying 30 pounds of equipment on their backs, drown before reaching land. Far enough away, but still close enough to see, the soldiers see a German plane destroy a ship. Those who survive begin the long walk to Munich, experiencing battle victories along the way, as well as further loss of fellow soldiers that total close to half of those that set foot in Marseille. Tommy is nearly killed by shrapnel from a German attack but a metal case carrying his missal saves him. Tommy also tends to a German soldier in his last minutes of life as he gives the German his pair of rosary beads. Tommy earns the Combat Infantry Badge, the Bronze Star Commendation and the Purple Heart. He is also battlefield commissioned as a Lieutenant. During the last few months before discharge Tommy is assigned to Munich, the location of Hitler's Führerbau. There he is ordered to protect priceless works of art that Hitler had stolen until the items can be turned over to the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives personnel. During that time a Sergeant in Tommy's platoon finds in the basement many personal items that belonged to Hitler; for example, two gold plated luger pistols inscribed to Hitler, a gold/ruby ring with a swastika and an ordinary looking desk with Hitler's initials and a swastika. Tommy takes an interest in the desk set and is given authorization to send the object to his parents as a War memento. In 1988, more than 40 years after World War II ends, Tommy Martin watches on television a RKO newsreel documentary that draws attention to Hitler's missing desk set, the far from ordinary item that was used to sign the 1938 Munich Pact. The narrator indicates the item has probably been destroyed, but if it still exists it is priceless. Tommy realizes he owns the lost item but is unsure where it is since his parents had passed away years ago and his parents personal possessions are no longer around. After frantically searching everywhere he finally finds the desk set underneath a bed in his house. Against the wishes of his wife he decides to find the value of the item. He teams up with his son and then later on meets a man who completes his inner circle. Disappointing leads and a trail of tears lead them nowhere as the trio runs into people who attempt to take advantage of them. Their undertaking takes them to auction houses, gun show events, WWII memorabilia collectors, impostors, swindlers and Neo-Nazi members and a trip to Dubai. In the end, Tommy questions if he's been chasing shadows for such a long time and should donate the desk set to a suitable museum as his wife had pleaded with him during all those years.