When a Goodwill worker in Tucson , Arizona , excavate a Purple Heart from a contribution loge in June , it did n’t exactly fit in with the box ’s other house items . So Goodwill decide to test to track down the family of the soldier who earn it , CNNreports .
That soldier was Nick D’Amelio Jr. , according to the inscription on the medallion , which is also inscribed with “ S2C , USN.”Militaryrecordsconfirmthat he was a U.S. Navy ( denoted by the " USN " ) seaman 2nd class ( “ S2C ” ) who was reported missing in action at law duringWorld War II , after Nipponese surface forcesgunned downthe USSLittlein the Solomon Islands on September 5 , 1942 .
D’Amelio was declared beat the following year , and is now memorialized in Walls of the Missing at The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City , Philippines . He was present the Purple Heart posthumously .
Judith Roman Bucasas , director of marketing of Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona , tell CNN that she intend it was an accident that the Purple Heart was donate in the box seat of housewares . After all , it ’s one of the most honored awards a member of the military machine can receive . George Washingtonhimselfcreatedthe honor in 1782 ( though he named it the Badge of Military Merit ) , and General Douglas MacArthur revived it on the bicentenary of Washington ’s natal day in 1932 , renaming it the Purple Heart .
Goodwill is collaborating with Purple Hearts Reunited , a non-profit-making organisation that reunites lost or steal medals with veterans or their families , but since they have n’t had any circumstances finding D’Amelio ’s relatives yet , they decide to call in reinforcement via social media . On Monday , Goodwillpostedphotos of the Purple Heart on the Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona Facebook page , and inquire people to please call 520 - 623 - 5174 extension 7039 with any data on D’Amelio or his family unit .
This is n’t the first time a Purple Heart has beendiscoveredin an Arizona Goodwill — in 2016 , a mates found the medallion at the jewellery return , and , with the help of the Facebook community , successfully reunited it with its recipient ’s folk . Hopefully , the report of Nick D’Amelio Jr. ’s Purple Heart will have just as happy an ending .
[ h / tCNN ]
