State Works to Return Purple Heart Medals, Perhaps One to Former Charles City Resident

Iowa State Treasurer Roby Smith is working to return Purple Heart medals to Iowans after several years of them being unclaimed, including one possibly of a former Charles City resident.

Smith hosted an event Wednesday (01.29) to return a Purple Heart found in a safety deposit box a bank turned over to his office as unclaimed property.

Garold Hayes of Tama died in 2015 and the safety deposit box was his. Nancy Clark, his cousin, accepted the medal on behalf of the Hayes family.

Still, it’s unclear who that Purple Heart was awarded to because there was no paperwork in the safety deposit box where it was found. According to the obituary for Garold Hayes, he spent most of his life in Tama and was buried in a cemetery in Pleasantville, where he was born. 

Smith says his office has another Purple Heart in its possession and would like to return the medal to a relative as well.

Papers found with that Purple Heart indicate Eggers served in the Korean War. According to a brief online obituary, Eggers died in a Waterloo nursing home in 2020 at the age of 91 and had formerly lived in Charles City.

**Story courtesy of Radio Iowa