Purple Heart, once stored in safe deposit box, delivered to family of deceased Iowan

DES MOINES — Garold Hayes’ family was overjoyed when they received the Purple Heart that had been stored in his safe deposit box and left unclaimed for years after he died.

Now the Iowa Treasurer’s Office, which facilitated the return of that Purple Heart, is asking for help finding the family of another Iowa man whose Purple Heart remains in its possession.

During a ceremonial news conference Wednesday at the Iowa Capitol, State Treasurer Roby Smith delivered the medal from the unclaimed safe deposit box to the closest surviving family of Garold Hayes, a Tama man who died in 2015 at the age of 76.

The Purple Heart medal is awarded to U.S. military members who are wounded in service. It is the nation’s oldest military award, introduced by General George Washington in 1782.

Nancy Clark, Hayes’ cousin, accepted the Purple Heart on behalf of the family. Clark and other family members who attended the ceremony expressed gratitude and amazement at the medal’s return.

“I think this is wonderful,” Clark said.

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While the Purple Heart was in Hayes’ possession, it is unclear whether it was awarded to him or to someone else. There was no inscription or documentation that revealed its recipient, the Treasurer’s Office said, and there is no database that provides an exhaustive list of Purple Heart recipients.

Family members who attended Wednesday’s event said they did not know much about Hayes’ life. Clark said she knew Hayes well when they were teenagers, but they did not stay in touch as adults and that she did not see him again until the end of his life. Family members said they were unaware that Hayes had a Purple Heart.

“He was a cute little boy, and I thought he was younger, but we were the same age,” Clark said of Hayes. “He was a good cousin.”

Garold Hayes was born in Pleasantville, graduated from high school there and then lived most of his life in Tama, according to his obituary. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant brother, and was never married, according to the obituary. Clark is listed as his lone surviving family member. Memorials were directed to the American Legion in Pleasantville.

Smith said it was an honor to be able to return the Purple Heart to Hayes’ family. It was done so through Treasurer Office’s Great Iowa Treasure Hunt program, which seeks to return unclaimed money and property to Iowans.

“To reunite it, we had to find Garold Hayes’ next of kin, and that was Nancy. And it took a lot of homework, and we finally tracked it down. We have been in possession of this for several years,” Smith said.

The program, which started under previous Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald, has returned over $390 million to Iowans. The assets returned include money from inactive banks accounts, uncashed checks, lost stocks and bonds, utility refunds, insurance benefits and valuables in safe deposit boxes.

The program currently has $587 million in assets to return to Iowans, Smith said.

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Treasurer seeks to return another medal

Smith also asked for the public’s help in finding relatives of Herman Eggers, who also had a Purple Heart in his safe deposit box in Waterloo.

Eggers was 91 years old when he died in 2020. He was the recipient of the Purple Heart in his safe deposit box, having served in the Korean War, the Treasurer’s Office said.

“These are Iowans that served. They were injured for our country. This is a way that we can honor them,” Smith said. “I don’t want medals that are sitting in boxes. I want them back with the rightful owners, that they can display them proudly and talk about the people that served our country and died for our country.”

Anyone with information on Herman Eggers or his family is invited to contact the Iowa Treasurer’s Office.

More information on the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt can be found at the Treasurer’s website, iowatreasurer.gov.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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