Heartwarming tale: Amateur sleuths help family reunite with WWII Purple Heart
LINCOLN − Jim Martel found the Purple Heart medal as he was cleaning out a house he'd bought in Pawtucket, and he knew he had to get it back to the family.
Sifting through the contents of the house on Crane Street last year, it was clear to Martel that his hands were touching generations of memories.
Martel didn't know it at the time, but the previous occupant was a man who had grown up in the house, leaving only when it was time to move into a nursing home at more than 100 years old.
Throwing away most everything that had been left behind, Martel held onto a pair of gold rings and the Purple Heart, which is awarded to U.S. service members who have been wounded or killed in war.
Because Martel and the seller closed their ends of the sale on different days, Martel never met the seller. He wondered how he'd get the rings and the medal back where they belonged.
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Martel held onto the Purple Heart for a few months before deciding to post photographs of it on Facebook with the following message: "I found this Purple Heart in a property I purchased on Crane St in Pawtucket RI. The name is Joseph Costa. If anyone knows a relative I would love to get it to them."
Post draws strong response on Facebook
That's when the Internet sleuths went to work. The message was shared 8,400 times. Of the more than 200 comments on the post, many gave advice on possible connections and where Martel should look. The search was complicated because Costa is a popular name in Rhode Island and apparently many Costas have served their country.
Martel's listing the street name in his post, and posting photographs of the medal, which included the recipient's middle initial – Joseph J. Costa – were important clues.
One Facebook user found a 2008 obituary for the recipient's 90-year-old brother. Another, Mike Halloran of Saunderstown, was able to uncover an announcement of James R. Costa's death during World War II published in The Providence Journal six decades ago.
Halloran also found and posted a March photograph of Costa's brother, John, from the Valley Breeze newspaper as he celebrated his 102nd birthday at the Grandview Center nursing home in Cumberland. John Costa had moved into the nursing home from the longtime family home on Crane Street in Pawtucket.
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Martel's Facebook post was brought to the attention of James J. Costa's grandnephew, Douglas Arone, who told his father, David Arone. David Arone's mother was the sister of James and John Costa. Arone serves as trustee for John Costa, who never married or had children.
"I'm 87 years old. I don't go on Facebook much," David Arone said.
Last Friday, Arone met Martel at his shop, Martel Plumbing and Heating in Lincoln, where Martel returned the Purple Heart.
"It's nice to have it back with the family," Martel said.
"I was surprised when it turned up," Arone said.
His brother's death in World War II hit hard
Halloran, who went to school with Martel, said, "I was happy to play a small role in reuniting the Purple Heart and appreciate John’s service and the ultimate sacrifice paid by his brother Joseph."
Joseph J. Costa was a medic when he was killed in the Pacific in 1943. John Costa and another brother, Frank, also served during World War II. John Costa is the last survivor of seven siblings. David Arone and another nephew, Daniel Moitozo, take turns visiting with him daily.
David Arone brought the medal to show John Costa and let him know it had been found. His brother's death, when they were both in their early 20s, hit John Costa hard.
"He was always talking about Joe and what happened to him," David Arone said. "It stayed with him."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lost Medal, Found Legacy: A RI homeowner returned a lost Purple Heart
