MARION, Ill. – An Illinois family has been reunited with a deceased World War II veterans military honors that had been missing for several years.

In a special ceremony last week at VFW Post 1301 in Marion, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs turned over a lost Purple Heart and other medals to relatives of the late Stephen J. Grabowski.

Grabowski, a Chicagoan and son of Polish immigrants, fought in the European theater during the war. Army Private Grabowski was a rifleman in Company B, 473rd Infantry.

On April 15, 1945, Grabowski, 27 at the time, participated in Operation Grapeshot, the Allies’ final attack in the Italian Campaign. A German grenade hit the bunker Grabowski was in, burying him under debris and paralyzing him from the waist down.

Germany capitulated less than a month later; Japan surrendered in August.

Grabowski returned home and lived at Hones VA Hospital. He died of kidney failure in 1974. He was 56.

After Grabowski’s death, his military honors were stored in a safe deposit box owned his oldest nephew.

The contents of the safe deposit box went untouched for many years and were turned over to the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office in 2010 as unclaimed property. Part of the state treasurer’s job is to safeguard unclaimed property—bank accounts, unpaid life insurance benefits, and uncashed rebate checks—until it can be returned to its rightful owners, no matter how long it takes.

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According to the state treasurer, military medals are difficult to return because neither the Armed Forces nor the federal government maintains a comprehensive list of honorees. And in most cases, the conflict in which a medal like a Purple Heart is awarded is unclear.

Grabowski’s nephew, who lives in a nursing home in Chicago and is in poor health, was unable to retake possession of the medals. Eventually, the treasurer’s office found Grabowski’s grandniece, Crystal Cantrell, who lives near Marion, and arranged to return the honors.

On Aug. 21, Treasurer Frerichs turned over Grabowski’s Purple Heart; Bronze Star; European, African, Middle Eastern Campaign medals; Good Conduct medal; American Campaign medal; and World War II Victory medal.

“Private Grabowski sacrificed a great deal to stop an evil dictator and ensure a free world,” Frerichs said. “It is never too late to honor the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation.”

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