Military medals awarded almost 80 years ago are now finally back with the northern Illinois family of the World War II soldier who earned them.
The medals include two Purple Hearts. They were awarded to Homer Stanger, a young soldier from the Rockford area who served his country in the South Pacific in World War II.
He died in 1981. What happened to the medals is not clear, but somehow they ended up in the evidence room of a sheriff’s office in north Texas.
Kathy Andersen is the great niece of Homer Stanger and his wife, Ruby.
“They had a neighbor next door who was kind of like an adopted daughter, and she had moved to Texas, so we don’t know if they got stolen from her because they were found in a drug raid in Texas. And that’s how they were taken as evidence in the drug raid.”
With the help of the Illinois National Guard, Andersen has the medals.
“And to have them back with the family, I’m just thrilled to have them,” she said.
Now, she says she wants to find out more about her great-uncle’s wartime service so that she can write the story.