New site from Pa. Treasury Dept. tracks down lost military medals

Around 500 military medals and awards are just sitting idle in a vault at the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property, but a newly launched website is trying to change that.

The site, announced Monday by Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella, lets military veterans and families have access to a database of military decorations from the department’s unclaimed property database.

https://twitter.com/PATreasury/status/1039210908881436672

“The success of our medal returns often relies on the help of the public,” Torsella said in a statement. “We want to crowdsource getting these medals back where they belong, and invite Pennsylvanians to use this new tool to help us in returning these awards.”

Using family names or military company names, the site searches through database and allows owners or family members to file claims and recover the items. Users can also peek at a photo gallery of some of the decorations that are in the unclaimed property vault.

Since 2016, Treasury has returned 58 service decorations, medals and Purple Heart awards to their rightful owners.