Pierre Salinger, President Kennedy's press secretary, almost lost something irreplaceable when his briefcase was swiped while he stopped at a phone booth.

A Paris restaurant owner found and returned the briefcase, which was missing $750 in cash but still contained two mementos: a silver medal Kennedy had given aides to thank them for their role in resolving the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and a cigar box with Kennedy's initials that Jacqueline Kennedy gave to Salinger after her husband's assassination."He really saved me," Salinger said of the restaurant owner.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Birthdays: For Wednesday, Dec. 20

Movie director George Roy Hill 73

Actress Jenny Agutter 43

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