WWII Purple Heart found in flea market record player and returned after 70 years

A World War II Purple Heart awarded to Sgt. James Carithers, was found rattling around in a record player bought at the Anderson Jockey Lot, a flea market in Belton, South Carolina. The unnamed man who made the find wanted to return the medal to its rightful heirs, so he began a search online. A visit to the genealogy site Geneaologytrails.com connected him with Andrew Staton, a 17-year-old site volunteer, who eventually united the medal with the recipient’s family. Staton was able to find a post dating back to 2000, from a woman who was searching for information about her family, including her uncle James E. Carithers. Arrista Pottle, Carithers’ niece, was overjoyed to make a connection with the uncle she was never able to meet. Pottle said that she couldn’t be more proud that her mother’s brother was a war hero saying, “I was so excited when I opened it. It was so beautiful. It just, it amazed me.” VIDEO