Joseph 'Dusty' Ridlon, a retired plumber, came across a precious purple heart medal while walking down the street in his New York Neighborhood. When he picked it up, he knew he had to return it to its original owner right away.
On the back on the medal was an inscription with the name Sergeant B.J. McNamara on it. Dusty took the medal to his local American Leagon Post to try and track down the sergeant. From there, they contacted U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer's office.
After many hours of research and dead ends, they finally found the daughter of Sergeant McNamara and were able to safely return the medal to her.
The daughter was extremely grateful and said the medal had been lost around 50 years ago. She was so thrilled to be able to have it back! What an amazing story of how the kindness of one stranger can solve a 50 year old mystery.
