Purple Heart reunited with WWII veteran's family in Geneva
GENEVA, Ill. - A Purple Heart that lost its way has now been reunited with the family of a World War II veteran.
What we know:
"These medals don’t deserve to be in a cold vault in Springfield," said Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs. "They should be in the warm, loving embrace of family."
Frerichs launched Operation Purple Heart in 2021 to return lost or unclaimed combat medals to the families of those who earned them.
On Thursday, during a ceremony at the American Legion post in west suburban Geneva, Army veteran Shawn Gorski accepted the Purple Heart awarded to his late grandfather, Edward Gorski Jr.
The elder Gorski served in the Army’s 65th Infantry Division, which fought in Europe during 1944 and 1945, including in the Battle of the Bulge.
Gorski’s son, Scott, recalled that his father was wounded while trying to shield a fellow soldier from a mortar blast.
"There was a mortar that got shot in a fox hole and he do over a guy that was in bad shape already," Gorski said. "He dove on top of him and it blew and did a lot of damage around his eye. And he carried that scar through life as I remember on his face."
Edward Gorski died in 1993. His Purple Heart, which had been stored in a bank’s safe deposit box, was eventually turned over to the treasurer’s office as unclaimed property.
"This program came about because when I came into office, I discovered that we held certain Purple Hearts. I saw one in a display case. and asked who does that belong to? The staff couldn’t tell me."
Thursday’s event marked the 14th time the state has returned a Purple Heart to a veteran’s family.
Shawn Gorski, who was just a child when his grandfather died, said he was honored to receive the medal. A veteran himself, he plans to proudly display it in his home.
"When the Treasurer’s office reached out to me and said your grandfather has this, I was shocked. This just makes it all more real. And more meaningful. I think it makes my service feel more important too. So now I’m going to put it in a case and hang it up in my basement and show it off," Gorski said.
What's next:
Frerichs said the state still has eight more Purple Hearts awaiting reunification and is asking the public to visit operationpurpleheart.org to see if they can help connect the medals with their rightful families.