HARRISBURG — Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced that 500 military decorations and memorabilia have been returned to veterans and their families since she took office in 2021.

“As state treasurer, I safeguard every taxpayer dollar, but one of my favorite parts of the job isn’t about the money at all – it’s the work Treasury does to honor and thank our veterans and their families by returning military medals that become unclaimed property,” Garrity said. “Each item that comes to our vault is an important part of someone’s story, and returning each one to the rightful owner who earned it or their family is a way to show our gratitude for their immense sacrifices for our nation’s defense.”

The 500 medals and memorabilia include 12 Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars and one Gold Star Medal.

Treasury’s vault in Harrisburg still holds about 500 military decorations, including those from every branch of service and most major conflicts. Items include medals, pins, buttons, ribbons and more. Military decorations most often come to Treasury’s unclaimed property program as the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes.

“The team at Treasury is dedicated to finding the veterans and families whose medals are in our care,” Garrity said. “From cold calls to deep-dive internet searches, and digging through records, they leave no stone unturned in the search for a veteran. As long as I’m treasurer, we will never stop searching for the rightful owners. I encourage everyone to help us in the search for these veterans and their families.”
Anyone can help find the owners of the medals in Treasury’s care by visiting patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property/Medals.

A few notable military returns include:

• A Bronze Star and engraved military funeral bullet casing to the family of Frank Musto, a U.S. Army veteran who served his country during World War II. Musto, from Westmoreland County, enlisted when he was 19 and he was wounded in France. He was also the recipient of the Purple Heart, WWII Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
• Multiple Medals including the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Korea Medal and Korean War Service 50th Anniversary Medal earned by the late Timothy Marahoris of Harrisburg were returned to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Marahoris served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He had no living relatives, and his church family accepted his decorations in his honor.
• A Gold Star Mothers and Widows Pilgrimage Medal was returned to the Morrison family. The medal, presented to Agnes Morrison in 1933 when she visited her son Joseph William Morrison’s grave in France. Morrison, from Schuylkill County, was a member of the 554th Ambulance Service in World War I. He was killed in action just 10 days before the end of the war. He was also the recipient of the Croix de Guerre with a palm for his bravery.

“As a veteran myself, every return is near and dear to my heart,” Garrity said. “It’s my solemn duty to make sure every medal in our care is returned to the veteran who earned it or to their family who also made tremendous sacrifices for our country.”

Along with the hundreds of military decorations waiting to be reunited with veterans, Treasury is working to return more than $5 billion worth of unclaimed property. More than one in 10 Pennsylvanians has unclaimed property, and the average value of a claim is $1,000.

Unclaimed property includes things like dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance policies and more. Most tangible unclaimed property comes from abandoned safety deposit boxes and can include things like jewelry, baseball cards and other collectibles and family valuables. Visit patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property to search for unclaimed property.