New Bedford Vet’s WWII Purple Heart Among Six Unclaimed Medals

From time to time, I receive newspaper clippings from listeners seeking to prove me wrong on one issue or another, or to provide me with information to support a case I have been making. I suspect the clippings come from older folks without the ability to forward a link via email.

In any event, hearing from listeners is always a good thing, even if they take me to task for something I've said.

Recently, an envelope containing three newspaper clippings arrived on my desk from a woman in Westport. One of them stood out as the sender had written across the top, "Can you help?"

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The article by Nick Stoico appeared in the Metro section of the Boston Globe. Stoico explained how the Office of Massachusetts State Treasurer Deb Goldberg's office is "asking for the public's help to return six unclaimed Purple Hearts to the families of the service members who earned them."

The Globe reported that, "The military medals were kept in safe deposit boxes that were turned over to the treasury department's Unclaimed Property Division, a spokesperson for the treasury office said."

Unclaimed Medals and Those Who Earned Them

CBS Boston reported that the unclaimed medals belonged to Thomas Flynn of Worcester, who served in World War I; Edward McCabe of Worcester and Framingham, a World War II veteran; William Bemis of Springfield, who served in World War II; Robert Boquist of Rutland, a veteran of the Korean War; and James Mooney of Everett and New Hampshire, a Vietnam vet.

The sixth unclaimed Purple Heart belonged to World War II veteran Joseph Arruda of New Bedford.

READ MORE: New Bedford Officially Designated a "Purple Heart City"

The Globe article stated Aruuda, who passed away in 1998, was a staff sergeant from New Bedford and South Dartmouth. "Arruda served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations with the 129th Infantry Regiment," according to the paper.

If You Have Information on These Medals

For more information about the Purple Hearts or any other unclaimed property, contact the Massachusetts Unclaimed Property Division or call the Massachusetts Treasurer's Office at (617) 367-0000.