by Charles Oliver
The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga. (Tribune News Service) August 16, 2015
Many people wouldn’t have done what Justin Chad Davis did.
While cleaning out a shed at an Atlanta home, Davis came across a box full of family heirlooms, including a Purple Heart, an award given to American military members who are wounded or killed in combat.
“Some people, when they find a Purple Heart, just discard it,” said Zachariah L. Fike, a captain in the Vermont National Guard and CEO of Purple Hearts Reunited. “Some people sell them. There’s a large collectors’ market for them.”
But Davis did neither. He set out to track down the man who was given that award — Alfred John Holland — or his family, and that’s what led him to Purple Hearts Reunited, a group founded by Fike that helps return lost Purple Hearts to the veterans they belong to or their families.
“I believe these medals belong with the families or in a place of honor,” Fike said, himself a recipient of the Purple Heart. “Spiritually, it’s as if these veterans are coming home again.”
Holland, they found, was a World War II veteran who died in 1989 at the age of 75 and is buried at the historic Sylvester Cemetery in Atlanta. And with the help of Dennis Taylor, president of the cemetery’s foundation, they were able to locate Holland’s remaining family.
On Saturday, at Dalton American Legion Post 112, they returned the medal to Holland’s younger brother Leslie.
“I didn’t know what to think when they called me,” said Leslie Holland, a Dalton resident. “I didn’t even know it was missing. He (his brother) had died, and his children had passed. I really didn’t know what had become of it.”
Fike says that records show Alfred Holland enlisted in the U.S. Army on Nov. 12, 1941, served honorably in World War II, was presented the Purple Heart for wounds he suffered in combat and was discharged on May 29, 1945. Unfortunately, the existing records do not show what unit he served with or in what battle he was wounded.
Holland re-enlisted in March 1946 and served another year in the Army.
Dalton Mayor Dennis Mock thanked everyone involved in getting the medal returned to Holland’s family.
“This event makes me proud to be an American,” he said. “It really speaks to the character of everyone involved.”
The Purple Heart is the nation’s oldest military honor, first presented by Gen. George Washington for gallantry in battle.
In 1931, then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Douglas MacArthur revived the award for wounds suffered in combat.
“We talk about people sacrificing for their country,” said Farris T. Johnson, commander of the Department of Georgia of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a congressionally-charted organization representing those who have received the Purple Heart. “When you see a man or a woman who has received the Purple Heart, you know they have sacrificed for their country. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice. As the saying goes, ‘All gave some, and some gave all.’”
Do you have story like this. There are remarkable stories that should be shared with veteran community. Stories that inspire pride, and should be honored.
We urge you to contact Leslie with your stories and moments that are too precious to be kept locked away.
