JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) – A Purple Heart found in a box of memorabilia in Jacksonville is headed to the family of the man who received the prestigious recognition in 1943.

The Daily News of Jacksonville reported that Debera Allen found the Purple Heart belonging to Olin White in a box and began searching for White’s family.

“I contacted everybody in the family and nobody knew who (Olin White) was,” said Debera Allen, the woman who found the Purple Heart in her family home. “That (Purple Heart) represented a life for our country and I didn’t want anything to happen to it.”

Eventually, Dan Stoy of the Military Order of the Purple Heart picked up the search. He found White’s niece, Lynn White, living in China Grove. He delivered the Purple Heart on Saturday.

The two of them had an emotional conversation when he called to tell White the Purple Heart had been found.

“My wife can tell you I just sat there and pretty much cried in front of my computer after I called her,” Stoy said. “To me, this guy’s a hero for what he did in the past. It’s a World War II vet — there’s not a lot of them around anymore — and it’s an honor to be able to take this and deliver it back to the family.”

Olin White, a teenager when he received the Purple Heart, was one of 183 soldiers who sank with the USS Drexler when Japanese kamikaze pilots struck it during World War II. Stoy says the medal will give the family closure since White’s body was never found.

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Information from: The Daily News, http://www.jdnews.com

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