Found in S.C. thrift store, Purple Heart returned to sailor’s family
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A Purple Heart awarded to a World War II officer found at a thrift store has made its way home to his family thanks to the dedicated efforts of a few Lowcountry residents.
Kristina and Steve Brown set out to find Raymond Charles Peters’ family after a friend of theirs found his Purple Heart at an area Goodwill on a shelf for sale and bought it.
After their call out for help, Jen Power, a Mount Pleasant woman skilled in genealogy and whose husband also has a Purple Heart, was able to find a family connection through intense research.
Shelly Schneider is Peters’ great-niece and lives in Illinois, where Peters is originally from. Peters was a chief petty officer and chief water tender in the Navy during World War II. Eventually, he became a prisoner of war.
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Peters died at a camp in Japan after enemy troops sunk his ship. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his ultimate sacrifice.
The military shipped the award to an address in Mount Pleasant, where Peters’ wife was the next of kin. Schneider says any connection with the wife has long since lapsed. When Kristina Brown called her and told her about her great-uncle’s awards, Schneider was ecstatic.
Soon after realizing the connection, the medal was in the mail and arrived in Illinois on Schneider’s doorstep. She opened it on Facetime with the Browns, Power, and James Combs.
Combs is the founder of Horoes of America & Beyond, a non-profit that honors servicemen and women, often giving out coins of appreciation. He also reached out after the Browns’ call to make sure the Purple Heart made it to Peters’ family.
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“Oh you guys, oh my, it’s beautiful,” Schneider said. “Today, my mom just kept turning him over and over and it’s so, Wow. It’s just like brand new, isn’t it? Oh wow, thank you guys so much.”
Schneider has a small photo of her great uncle but said she didn’t know he had earned a Purple Heart until she got the call. She and Kristina Brown got emotional when Schneider opened the box, seeing the honor, and ing Peters’ sacrifice.
“This is the only story that carried from her mom to my mom, was that someone who made it out said that when he would get his little portion of food he would always share it with the other men in there and the article says he was always the life of the party, that he would always encourage anybody who was discouraged so I know he was a really, really good man,” Schneider said.
She marveled at the mint condition of the medal. Combs noted it is still in the original box the military would have shipped it to Peters’ widow in.
Schneider also received Peters’ Presidential Unit Citation.
“That is the highest award that a unit can receive for gallantry and also for finishing and completing a dangerous mission,” Brown said.
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The group laughed, cried and chatted on a video call for a half-hour ing the work to find Schneider.
“When I called your Aunt Ruth and her phone went to voicemail and it said you’ve reached Ruth, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is it!’ Like, every dot that I had put out there connected and aligned and I was like, ‘I’m on it,’” Power said.
After a successful and emotional journey, the group hung up the call, promising to stay in touch, still searching for Peters’ flag.
Schneider thanked the Lowcountry team over and over. Brown and Combs are hoping they can continue to do this service, searching out lost valor and returning it, likely with the help of Power once they find their next mission.
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