One of the photos of Armco employees who served their country during WWII that former Armco manager Jerry Puff was able to return to descendants recently.

When the Butler Eagle published a story in February about Jerry Puff’s mission to somehow return 77 pictures of Armco’s World War II veterans to their families, he had no idea what to expect.

“When it hit the paper, the phone started ringing,” Puff said on Thursday. “It rang for three days straight.”

Puff’s pictures were of Armco employees who were shipping out, had returned on leave or returned from their tour of duty during World War II.

Armco’s staff photographer took the photos and carefully wrote the name of each soldier, sailor, WAVE OR WAC on the envelope.

Some were pictured alone and others with family members, who were also identified in some cases.

Puff was able to rehome two thirds of the photos to grateful, and sometimes tearful descendants of the men and women in the photos.

Pictures were mailed around the country at Puff’s expense after far flung relatives saw the photos on the Butler Eagle website and Facebook page when the article broke.

“Some people were in tears when they called,” Puff said. “Some said ‘I have no pictures of them.’”

A full story appears in Monday's Butler Eagle.