70-Year-Old Purple Heart Returned To Will County Marine's Family

SHOREWOOD, IL — A 70-year-old Purple Heart medal belonging to a Will County Marine has been returned to the veteran’s family after being located among unclaimed items that had been turned over to the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office five years ago.

Marine Corps Private First-Class Charles John Alexander earned the Purple Heart after a bullet ripped through his knee during combat on July 30, 1944, while he was serving as an infantryman with the Marines in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

Alexander was advancing in combat with his Browning automatic rifle during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign — also known as Operation Forager — when he was struck by the bullet, officials said. He walked with a limp for the rest of his life.

Alexander, who was 27 at the time he was injured, entered the service on Jan. 7, 1944, and was hit by the gunfire three weeks before his 28th birthday. He was discharged from the Marines the same day he was wounded, according to the state agency.

State officials said in a news release that Alexander’s Purple Heart was among items that were found inside a forgotten safe deposit box in a Shorewood bank in 2013. The contents likely were not touched since at least 2013 and were submitted to the state treasurer’s office in 2018 as part of the unclaimed property program, state officials said.

The Purple Heart was returned to Alexander’s oldest living daughter, Debbie Ernest, in a private ceremony near the Will County resident’s home.

“Having my Dad’s Purple Heart in my hands means more than words can say,” Ernest said in a statement released by the Illinois State Treasurer’s office. “I am very proud of my father and very happy to have this honor safely back in the hands of our family.”

Through a spokesman for the state agency, Alexander’s family declined an interview request.

Four years after his military service, Alexander married Dorothy Johnson. He eventually worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation and retired in 1982. He was a lifelong member of the Disabled American Veterans.

Alexander, a Marseilles native, died at home, after hospice care, on April 27, 1988, and is interred at the columbarium at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, according to the state treasurer's office.

“Military medals personify honor, sacrifice, and duty,” Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs said in a news release. “I am grateful we returned this Purple Heart to Private Alexander’s daughter, and we continue to seek the assistance of Illinois residents to help us return these medals to the loving care of their families.”

Ernest contacted the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office after media coverage of Operation Purple Heart, Frerichs’ unprecedented mission to return Purple Heart medals to their rightful owners.

Military medals are among the most difficult items to return because neither the Armed Forces nor the federal government maintain a comprehensive list of awardees, the state agency said.

Frerichs’ office has reunited 10 Purple Hearts and other military medals to soldiers or their survivors, more than any other administration in Illinois’ history, according to a news release.

Of the soldiers, seven served in the Army, two in the Marines, and one in the Air Force. Four Purple Hearts were earned for service in World War II, one in Korea and five in Vietnam. Only one soldier, a Vietnam veteran, was alive to accept the honor; survivors accepted the other nine. Two soldiers were Killed in Action: a Marine in Vietnam and a pilot in World War II.

“Private First Class Alexander served his country nearly 70 years ago," Frechichs said. "but it is never too late to honor his sacrifice.”