The Augusta Chronicle tells the story of Ivan Bolgla who bought a Purple Heart at an auction belonging to a World War II pilot, 2nd Lt. Harley Kempter, and got it back to the family through the efforts of Purple Hearts Reunited, a not-for-profit-organization that exists for that reason;
“I try to pride myself on keeping it together, but that was impossible,” Kempter said after being reunited with his uncle’s Purple Heart. “I had nothing tangible I could lay my hands on connecting me with my namesake, other than his engraving on the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery in Hawaii. This is the only reminder I have of my uncle.”
[…]
A final report showed that Harley Curtiss Kempter was born in 1915 in Clinton, Iowa, and enlisted in the Army National Guard on May 16, 1942.
He later served in the Army Air Corps as a P-47N fighter pilot in the 333rd Fighter Squadron, 318th Fighter Group, one of the first units credited with destroying Japanese bombers during the war.
The report further stated Kempter was killed in action Aug. 8, 1945, while flying a protection mission in Fukucko Wan, Japan. After word of his death spread, Fike said, Kempter’s brother, William, an Air Corps mechanic, had a pilot fly him for an aerial search but could not find Kempter.
Vermont National Guard Captain Zachariah Fike, founder of Purple Hearts Reunited says he’s returned a hundred or so of these medals with the rightful families;
“It wasn’t supposed to be lost,” said Fike, an avid antiques collector for the past decade who has found hundreds of items that belonged to veterans by browsing vintage shops. “Somehow, it just lost its way over time.”
Well done and done well, Mr. Bolgla.
The number of stories we’ve had on this topic lately is inspiring me to start actively searching for old military decorations whenever I’m cruising the thrift shops and antiques malls my better half and I tend to frequent.
Great Job Mr. Bolgla, and great job again PHR!
Same here, Jacobite.