TUCSON, AZ — A Purple Heart mistakenly donated to a Tucson Goodwill store will be returned to a World War II veteran’s family in a ceremony Friday. Tips came in from across the country, but Goodwill and Purple Hearts Reunited didn’t have to look far to find the family of Navy Seaman Second Class Nick D’Amelio Jr.
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His great-grand nephew is Pima County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Doug Hanna, who will attend the ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Goodwill store at 10240 Golf Links Road, Tucson. Also in attendance will be Republican U.S. Sen. Martha McSally; Talon Mills, the store associate who found the prestigious medal; and Judith Roman Bucasas, the director of marketing for Goodwill of Southern Arizona.
Getting the Purple Heart back is bringing almost indescribable joy to the family, Hanna said.
“We had no idea it was gone at first, and once we overcame the shock that it was gone and then the realization one of the Goodwill workers found it, did the right thing, started the process to get it home — you can’t describe the feeling to have that piece of history back.
Mills found the Purple Heart in mid-June as he was sorting through a box of donated housewares. He recognized the significance right away, notified his manager and the hunt was on for D’Amelio’s family. After several dead ends, the store put out a national appeal to find the veteran’s family.
Related: Purple Heart Found Among Housewares Donated To Tucson Goodwill
“He didn’t have to do that,” Hanna said. “It’s a measure of his character, his morals and the respect for the country — respecting the fact and knowing what a Purple Heart means. That speaks volumes about him.”
D’Amelio enlisted in the Navy in 1942, but never made it home from World War II. He was reported missing in action when the USS Little was peppered by Japanese machine guns and sank in the shark-infested waters surrounding the Solomon Islands on Sept. 5, 1942, according to military records and online accounts of the attack.
A year after the ship sank, D’Amelio was declared dead and the Purple Heart was awarded posthumously. He is memorialized in Walls of the Missing at The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
D’Amelio’s sister Louise, Hanna’s grandmother, was a spirtual woman who often carried the Purple Heart in her pocket, he said. She was a spiritual woman “and believed her brother and husband were with her in her final days,” Hanna said. “This medal, and the numbers 9-4-5, brought her comfort. After she passed away, her belongings were returned and placed in the closet in her room.”
The family went through the clothes, furniture and other belongings, ultimately donating them to Goodwill.
“Unknowingly, the medal was in the pocket of clothing and went undetected during the move and donation process,” Hanna said.
Remembering the sacrifices made by D’Amelio is especially timely for the family. Hanna’s daughter — D’Amelio’s great-great-grand niece — just signed up to join the Air Force, continuing a family tradition of at least 70 years of service to the country.