St. Pete Man Receives His Father's WWII Purple Heart Medal

BURLINGTON, Vt. - A St. Petersburg man who was born seven months after his father was killed fighting in France during World War II has received his father's Purple Heart medal award that was found recently in a Tampa thrift store.

The medal was returned to Art Broaderick at a ceremony Friday in Burlington by the group Purple Hearts Reunited, an organization that reunites medals with the people who won them or their families, the Associates Press reported.

Broaderick, who summers in Vermont, was contacted by the group's founder Zachariah Fike, who tracked Broaderick down after learning of the medal issued to Pvt. Earl Broaderick, who died in 1944.

The medal was presented to him by Boy Scout Daniel Durgin, of Cabot, who raised the money for the ceremony as part of his Eagle Scout project.

"It gives me a part of our father," Broaderick said of the medal.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Video via the Associated Press