Early last week, a box of World War II medals, awards, and mementos was discovered at a Missouri Goodwill; the owner’s family was overwhelmed to hear that they would be returned home.
Rob Scanlon, Goodwill’s director of loss prevention, received a box of World War II items at the MERS/Missouri Goodwill headquarters and immediately saw its sentimental value. He notified the MERS/Missouri Goodwill CEO Lewis Chartock, and the pair decided to return the mementos to their rightful owners.
“There’s all kinds of stuff,” Chartock said. “If you ever watch ‘Antiques Roadshow,’ you know they love to see all of this stuff together: a picture of the whole platoon, combat medals, and a Silver Star.”
They were able to identify the Silver Star as having been awarded to Sgt. James J. McKenzie, a Marine veteran. McKenzie was born in St. Louis in 1918, and during World War II he had been a prisoner of war in Osaka, Japan, only released when Japan surrendered in 1945. The Silver Star was awarded for his rescue of fellow Marines when they were trapped in tunnels in the Philippines on April 13, 1942.
“Disregarding the imminent danger of collapsing walls and roofs, Sgt. McKenzie heroically entered the tunnels, assisted in extricating trapped soldiers, and gave first aid to the wounded,” the citation found in the box said.
Though McKenzie died in 1979 of lung cancer at age 60 workers from Goodwill found his last address and learned the home’s last owner was his daughter, Rebecca McKenzie, who had sold it. They wanted to return the items, but a demolition crew was scheduled to gut the home on Thursday.
Following up on on this information, Chartolk’s staff contacted the home’s realtor, who helped them track down McKenzie’s daughter-in-law, Deborah Anne Ellis, in Avon, Indiana, who then helped Chartolk contact McKenzie’s daughter, Michelle McKenzie, in Pollock Pines, California.
The family wasn’t sure how the Silver Star and other items made it to Goodwill, but they were overjoyed to learn that they were being returned.
Sgt. McKenzie had never spoken much about the war; Michelle knew that he was awarded the Silver Star but had never actually seen it. She will finally see the proof and read the story of her father’s bravery when the box arrives. When she was asked how she will feel about having the Silver Star in her possession, she said she would “hold onto them and kiss them—something like that.”
Photo: Rusty Clark/Flickr