2 lost WWI Purple Heart medals to be returned in New York

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A National Guard soldier's ongoing campaign to return lost Purple Heart medals to veterans or their families is taking him back to northern New York where his effort began five years ago.

Capt. Zachariah Fike, founder of Vermont-based Purple Hearts Reunited, is presenting the recovered Purple Hearts of two World War I soldiers during a Friday morning ceremony at the Jefferson County Historical Society in Watertown.

Since that first returned medal, the organization has returned nearly 300 Purple Hearts to veterans or their families across the country, while another 700 medals are in hand and waiting to be returned, Fike said.