Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs presented the medal to Bennett’s niece, Patty Knies, at a VFW ceremony in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, Illinois. The event marks the 17th lost medal Frerichs has returned — a record in the Prairie state and the country — as part of Operation Purple Heart, a program he launched in 2021. Bennett’s Purple Heart was kept in an Oak Lawn bank safe deposit box — which Knies said no one told her about — and surrendered to the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office as unclaimed property in 2022.
Author: Angela Barbuti
Published at: 2025-11-15 20:58:56
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