World War II airman's remains identified and buried last year; now his Purple Heart has found its way home

BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV) — A year after 2nd Lt. Blaine Wilcox was laid to rest in Glenwood, 81 years to the day his B-17 went down over Poland during WWII, his story continues to unfold.

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Forensic scientist Carrie Brown helped identify Wilcox at Offutt Air Force Base. She lives just 10 miles from Wilcox's hometown.

"It's a great coincidence. I think one of the best parts of my job is that those coincidences exist everywhere," she said.

Not long sfter the funeral, Wilcox's nephew, Art Sahlstein, received a call from an unfamiliar number: "And he said, 'We have something of yours.' And I said 'What?!'"

Kim Jorgenson, a South Dakota man who collects military memorabilia, purchased a Purple Heart through an online auction. The auction site listed it as "unissued."

"So I didn't expect to see a name on it," said Jorgenson.

When it arrived, he found a name on the back.

"This belongs to somebody. Somebody's family," Jorgenson said.

A quick internet search brought up news stories about Wilcox's recent funeral.

"The whole story was there. It was pretty easy, all I had to do was get a hold of Blaine's nephew," Jorgenson said.

Sahlstein says Jorgenson asked for nothing in return.

"Didn't want any compensation at all for it. There are still good people in the world," Sahlstein said.

Brown, who manages the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, says retrieving personal items is almost as important as identifying remains.

"We, as forensic anthropologists, work a lot with skeletal remains, human remains. But then when you have those materials and that material aspect, that's a really tangible part of that person's life," she said.

Sahlstein called Jorgenson a hero, but Jorgenson says he just wanted to honor someone who sacrificed for the country.

"Mostly you just get to honor 'em on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day but here I had an opportunity to do something extra and special, so that's what I did," he said.

Jorgenson says he looks forward to visiting a display honoring Blaine Wilcox and his brother at the Mills County Museum.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.