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A lot more than 1,500,000 Purple Hearts have now been granted to American soldiers and -women since World War Two. The medals are among the military's top honors and are usually found proudly displayed on outfits, resting places or in family homes. They're not the sort of items you had expect to find in a music shop-and when one lately was, it sparked a cross-country effort.

Gene Dobos was looking at an old store in California when he discovered a worn, heart-shaped medal blended in with the knickknacks. It had been a Heart bearing the name "Frank N. Smith." Purple Hearts are given to American soldiers who are hurt by the enemy and to the next of kin of soldiers killed in action or who die from injuries received in battle. Dobos, who understood the significance of the honor, bought it from the look and helped tripped a national seek out its owner.

Dobos contacted the Military Order of the Purple Heart-an company of combat veterans who work to recognize the honor and its readers. They call themselves the "Keepers of the Medal." Lewis Funderburk, the group's public relations chief-who is really a Vietnam veteran with two Purple Hearts himself-researched the honor and fundamentally unearthed that Frank N. Jones was a personal in the U.S. Army who died in Vietnam nearly 40 years back.

Smith, who was 20 at the time, was in a that was ambushed on December 17, 1968-just fourteen days before he was scheduled to return to his home state of Ohio for good.

After studying Smith's history, Funderburk considered an Ohio genealogist for aid in investigating Smith's resting place and remaining family.

"It appears as if the honor has been treated several times," said Funderburk. "I created his mom and dad taking the honor out and holding it in their hands, thinking about their son."

Eventually, Smith's grave was found in a cemetery maybe not far from his childhood home in Ohio. His parents had died, but his siblings were found using e-mails they had sent memorializing their brother at an online registry for decreased Vietnam War troops. They did not know the medal had gone missing and were "overwhelmed" that a group of strangers had worked so hard to return it to them.

Frank N. Jones was married and had a kid shortly before shipping off to Vietnam (he enlisted voluntarily). After his death, his widow and daughter moved west, possibly using the Purple Heart with them. It's not known how the honor arrived in a music shop.

For Smith's sister Jonna, the reunite of the honor brought with it a of emotions-and she was not alone in her reaction. Funderburk, of the Purple Heart Order, was so encouraged by the amount of those who came together to come back the honor to Smith's family that he composed a poem. His son-in-law helped him set what to music and a CD was created that is being sold. Earnings help buy a grant program that joins young people with experts who're bedridden and residing in Veteran Affairs features.

The song's chorus reads:

Purple Hearts are won in battle; grenades explode, device guns rattle; a dies, a mother cries; that's how Purple Hearts are won.

The Order and Smith's family prepared a small ceremony to be placed in the cemetery. The Purple Heart will soon be encased in glass and attached to Smith's headstone.

Private High Grade Frank D. Smith's heritage is going to be noticed in every VA hospital in America as young people move among the experts and tell the tale of a man who left Seneca County, Ohio to protect freedom-and who finally got his medal. official website