Contractor finds purple heart in rubble of Wisconsin house

RACINE, Wis. – A contractor demolishing a house in southeastern Wisconsin has retrieved a Purple Heart from the rubble.

Dan Macemon (MACE’-muhn) stopped demolition of the Racine home last week after he saw a box fall from the attic. Macemon opened the box and found the Purple Heart given to Albert Weaver. The medal is awarded to those wounded or killed in combat.

Justin Turner told WISN-TV that his father had owned the property for more than 50 years and that the Purple Heart belonged to his uncle.

Turner says it’s “amazing” that Macemon found the war medal in the debris, and that “it’s going to mean a lot” to Weaver’s family to have it returned.

Macemon says he’s found “neat stuff” in buildings he’s demolished, but that a Purple Heart is a first.