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Ninety-year-old George Hemphill reclaimed the Purple Heart he earned during World War II in France at a ceremony

Ninety-year-old George Hemphill reclaimed the Purple Heart he earned during World War II in France at a ceremony. He mailed it home and assumed it was in a box of his medals that he didn't open. (CNN/WLOS)

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Man reunited with Purple Heart from WWII

George Hemphill says he's flabbergasted

Updated: Tuesday, 22 Jan 2013, 8:39 AM EST
Published : Tuesday, 22 Jan 2013, 8:38 AM EST

    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man who mailed his Purple Heart home from France almost 70 years ago got it back in a ceremony in Rutherfordton.

    Ninety-year-old George Hemphill reclaimed the Purple Heart he earned during World War II in France at a ceremony Sunday. He mailed it home and assumed it was in a box of his medals that he didn't open.

    A Florida man bought it in an antiques store in Columbia, S.C., in 2000 and held on to it. His friend found Purple Hearts Reunited, a Vermont organization run by Capt. Zachariah Fike. Fike tracked down Hemphill, who also received a Bronze Star in Sunday's ceremony.

    Hemphill says he's flabbergasted that so many people worked to reunite him with his Purple Heart.

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