State Treasurer Stacy Garrity returned a Purple Heart, forgotten in a safe deposit box, to the son of a veteran injured in the Vietnam War on Thursday.

The event, held on Thursday to coincide with Purple Heart Day, took place on the grounds of Fort Indiantown Gap.

The Purple Heart had been awarded to Private First Class Ray Morgan, who served in Company A, 4th Supply and Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, from 1965 to 1967.

Morgan was wounded in Vietnam, leading to his discharge from active duty. He was awarded the Purple Heart while recovering at Valley Forge Hospital.

The reunification ceremony took place at Fort Indiantown Gap where Ray Morgan’s son, James Morgan, works as a clerical assistant in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

James Morgan was overcome with emotion as Garrity presented him with his father’s Purple Heart and other military decorations.

“I’d thought I’d lost his medals forever,” James Morgan said after receiving his father’s Purple Heart.

In addition to the Purple Heart, Ray Morgan’s Vietnam Service Medal and his National Defense Service Medal were returned to his son.

Garrity said the decorations were turned in to the Treasury’s Unclaimed Property program.

The Treasury Department was able to track down James Morgan because his father’s name was on the back of the Purple Heart, Garrity said.

Since Garrity took office in 2023, her office has returned 517 military decorations and memorabilia, including

13 Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars and one Gold Star.

The Treasury’s vault still holds nearly 500 military decorations, including those from every branch of service and most major conflicts. Military items include medals, pins, buttons, ribbons and more. Military decorations most often come to the Treasury as the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes, Garrity said.