Ninety-year-old George Hemphill reclaimed the Purple Heart he earned during World War II in France at a ceremony. He mailed it home and assumed it was in a box of his medals that he didn't open. (CNN/WLOS)
Man reunited with Purple Heart from WWII
George Hemphill says he's flabbergasted
Updated: Tuesday, 22 Jan 2013, 8:39 AM EST
Published : Tuesday, 22 Jan 2013, 8:38 AM EST
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man who mailed his Purple Heart home from France almost 70 years ago got it back in a ceremony in Rutherfordton.
Ninety-year-old George Hemphill reclaimed the Purple Heart he earned during World War II in France at a ceremony Sunday. He mailed it home and assumed it was in a box of his medals that he didn't open.
A Florida man bought it in an antiques store in Columbia, S.C., in 2000 and held on to it. His friend found Purple Hearts Reunited, a Vermont organization run by Capt. Zachariah Fike. Fike tracked down Hemphill, who also received a Bronze Star in Sunday's ceremony.
Hemphill says he's flabbergasted that so many people worked to reunite him with his Purple Heart.
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