NY Soldier’s WWI Purple Heart Returned To His Family
OSWEGO, N.Y. (AP) — A long-lost military honor awarded to a New York soldier wounded during World War I is being returned to his family.
Zachariah Fike (fyk), founder of Vermont-based Purple Hearts Reunited, says Oswego native William Shepard was a private in the Army's 4th Infantry Division when he was wounded while fighting in several campaigns in France in 1918.
Fike says his organization bought Shepard's Lady of Columbia Wound Certificate from a collector selling the item online. The certificate allowed wounded WWI veterans to receive a Purple Heart when the U.S. military officially created the medal in 1932.
Shepard's nephew, Joseph Kelley of Oswego, will be presented with his uncle's certificate and a replacement Purple Heart during a ceremony being held Saturday afternoon at the Oswego County Historical Society.