A local World War II veterans medals, inexplicably found in a storage unit outside of Washington County, have been returned to his living relatives. Leo Embree’s Purple Heart and Bronze Star were presented to Max Embree, the veteran’s nephew, last week.

Director of the Washington County Veterans Affairs Service Office, Sue Rich, presented the medals to Max after she obtained them from Tama County Veterans Affairs. She says a man brought the medals to Tama County Veterans Affairs after finding them in a storage unit. Rich got involved after seeing pictures of the medals posted on Facebook and recognizing the name of the recipient. She then made arrangements for Max to pick them up.

Embree was featured in Larry and Cheyenne Cuddeback’s recent book “The Three of Hearts”. According to the book, while serving in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II, he jumped in Normandy, Market Garden and fought at Bastogne.

For more information, listen to our conversation with Rich during today’s In Touch with Southeast Iowa.