TIMONIUM, Md. — Army Sergeant Louis Samuel Ambrico was born in 1924, but in 1944 he lost his life in military combat.
Since he had no wife and kids, his purple heart was lost for decades, but on Tuesday it was returned to his family.
WMAR was there as Patricia Biancolli got her uncle Louis' purple heart medal, which she only recently found out existed.
“My mother never told me that he had it, so I have no idea. I'm assuming she had to have known because but she didn’t say anything," says Patricia Biancolli.
Patricia’s mother was Sergeant Ambrico's older sister, and Patricia says they were close up until his death.
“She always she always always talked about him. In fact, she would be so honored today if she was alive," says Biancolli.
This purple heart is a symbol of his courage and bravery in World War II.
WMAR asked why the purple heart was lost in the first place. Patricia says she thinks after her aunt Teresa, who had the medal in her Brooklyn, New York, home, passed away, it made its way back to the local VFW post 107.
“The medal had been lost and found in a closet in the VFW in Brooklyn. I guess it’s one by where my grandmother lived," she says.
She says she is grateful the commander at that VFW post in Brooklyn wanted to return it to her family.
Patricia says she has been able to learn so much about her uncle—things she never knew.
She is also happy to know she isn’t the only family who gets to experience this, thanks to the Purple Hearts Reunited organization.
“It’s just unbelievable that they try to do this, and they’ve had such success with it," says Patricia.
Patricia also says this moment was even more special because her uncle Louis’s birthday is this Friday. He would have been 100 years old.
