Veteran's missing medals returned to granddaughter

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — The family of a World War II veteran from New Jersey has his missing military medals back thanks to another veteran who was rummaging through a flea market.

Nicholas Del Prete of Toms River purchased the medals last month and contacted the Purple Hearts Reunited organization in a bid to find Army Maj. Anthony Sordill. Sordill was a medical officer who earned the nation's third-highest decoration for valor, the Silver Star, in North Africa in 1943.

The group was able to contact relatives and the medals were returned to the family during a ceremony in Toms River on Tuesday.

Cheryl Purro believes the medals were lost after Superstorm Sandy.

Purple Hearts Reunited has returned medals and artifacts to over 150 families and museums.