A Purple Heart is being returned to its owner's family after an Arizona couple found the military honor medal on sale at a Goodwill store for $4.99.
Laura Hardy, of Mesa, Arizona, told KPHO/KTVK-TV that she received an outpouring of support and tips on social media after she posted a photo of the Purple Heart on Facebook. That post went viral and helped her get in touch with a family member of the late Eual Whiteman, the medal recipient.
"This is not right that this is in a Goodwill," Hardy told the station. "We're going to take it out and try to connect with its family."
Hardy said on Facebook that the breakthrough came when she connected with Tina Durnil Cook, of the Facebook group Veteran Buddy Finder, who tracked down the person who originally had the medal — Whiteman's nephew.
"The nephew was recently incarcerated and gave his belongings to a friend for safe keeping," Hardy wrote on Facebook. "The friend donated his belongings to Goodwill. Tina spoke to the nephew's mother who will accept the Purple Heart back for her son when he gets out."
Military men and women receive the Purple Heart Medal for wounds suffered in
combat, according to the website Purple Heart.org. Hardy told KPHO/KTVK-TV that she learned Whiteman served in the U.S. Army, did not have any children and was likely buried at a national cemetery in Oregon.
"Who knew what this man
did to earn this medal?" she told KPNX-TV. "It must have been something pretty important, because this is a very important medal to earn."
A Goodwill representative told the local station that the medal was actually inadvertently put out for sale and that the company usually keeps an eye out for military honors like Purple Hearts to attempt to return them to families.
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