Purple Heart stolen from WWII vet
BooRadley sends this article from her hometown about Michael Demich, a veteran of World War II who was wounded in France and awarded the Purple Heart. Now decades later, someone broke into his house while he was there and stole that precious memento of his wounds and his subsequent hospitalization.
Demich, 89, was sitting in his living room at the back of the house watching television. The back door was open. Sometime between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m on Saturday someone opened the bedroom window and climbed in, locking the bedroom door from inside.
They searched dresser drawers, lifted a 180-pound safe out of the closet, and emptied its contents onto the bed.
The suspects found the purple heart, Demich’s wedding band, coins he collected while serving in Europe, his late wife’s costume jewelry and a bag of quarters and took it all.
The family is left wondering who would want the Purple Heart? What value could it possibly have to whoever took it? Will they ever see it again?
They’re hoping someone will find the medal or that whoever took it will bring it back.
“Just put it in the mailbox,” Demich said.
There are video interviews with Demich at the link that are heartbreaking. Although the medal can be replaced, the replacement won’t have the same meaning as the medal he was awarded in his hospital bed.
“I will not be bullied out of my home,” he said.
Category: Real Soldiers
Two things Mr. Demich can and should do is 1.)file a police report, and 2.) check every pawn shop in town. The other place to look is eBay, although searching for a stolen item there is difficult.
Having had the “pleasure” of having my house broken into, I can say with authority that thieves take whatever items they think are valuable, and they prefer small, concealable items that can’t be traced easily.
The sad thing is that it’s someone he knew, from the sound of it.
“Although the medal can be replaced, the replacement won’t have the same meaning as the medal he was awarded in his hospital bed.” Very true. But, given that the existing stock of Purple Hearts for now and many years into the future all were produced during WWII, the replacement for all practical purposes is physically (not emotionally) identical to the one lost. That said, I hope they catch the b*stard that stole it.
I had the same thing happen to me at work. I worked in the Naval Hospital, Beaufort, SC. Someone stole my original out of my case right out of my therapy office. NCIS thinks it was a sailor who never went to Iraq or Afghan and was getting out. He left all the Vietnam/Army medals. It was my original and even though I got another, it just wasn’t the same. I doubt in the WWII vets case the guy will wear it around and say he’s a wounded vet. I believe it will get sold to a wannabee. I called all the pawn shops in town and was told they would look out for it but they are “worth next to nothing” monitarily so they all doubted it would show up. Hope they get this POS.
What strikes me about him…God is all around him in that room. It sucks that he lost something so valuable to him, but, maybe, just maybe…
I am guessing the medals are not numbered. Numbering them would be one way to trace them and be able to return them to the original owner if found, otherwise, how would they know who it belonged to? Anyone buying one with the number scratched off would know they are buying a stolen one.
They are not numbered but your name is supposed to be on the back of it. That didn’t happen very often. Mine did not have my name on it….the new one they sent did.
Honor and Courage
The thief who stole this veteran’s purple heart is the scum of the earth. I hope he has nothing but misfortune until he returns that medal back to the veteran. A world war II veteran. I have so much respect for those guys.