Surprise find with Harbor Freight detector

Scooter22

New Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
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I have been searching for a cheap detector to learn with and try it my hand at detecting. I found the detector at Harbor Freight and for $45 dollars if it turns out to be junk not much lost. I get the thing set up and familiarize myself with it and take off to my front yard. I found a dime about 4" down, Then a penny. I then got a hit by the base of my tree. I dug down about 3" and found a Purple Heart medal. I am not sure how it actually got there but I am assuming that it is from a home that was torn up during a tornado in 1992. I cleaned it up and could barely make out the name on the back. After a couple of hours searching on the internet looking for marital information for this fallen soldier in World War II. I stumbled across the soldiers son who shares his fathers name. A little more searching and I came up with a phone # for this gentlemen who is 70 years old living in Colorado. I picked up the phone and called this man and began asking him questions, turns out he lived in my neighborhood until a divorce in 1978. He did still remember the address it wasn't the same as mine acutally around the corner down the block from mine which is how I came to the conclusion maybe his exwife continued to live here after the divorce and in 1992 the home was compromized during the tornado. Well that is my story I am hooked now. I have found some more coins and lots of junk. I am surprised at the performance of this cheap detector. Are the more expensive ones any better than this?
 

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SO...... was it his fathers purple heart? Did he want it back? Are you going to send it to him? Was he surprised / excited to hear from you?
 
Yes It was his fathers and he had been trying to have it replaced but there were problems due to the loss of records. I think in 1973 there was a fire and some records were lost due to it. He did however have his fathers flag. He was pretty emotional talking to him. He was very surprised after all these years to be getting it back. He had thought his exwife had pawned it. I have mailed it back to him.
 
Yes It was his fathers and he had been trying to have it replaced but there were problems due to the loss of records. I think in 1973 there was a fire and some records were lost due to it. He did however have his fathers flag. He was pretty emotional talking to him. He was very surprised after all these years to be getting it back. He had thought his exwife had pawned it. I have mailed it back to him.

Your correct about the fire, I was serving in the Army at that time, what you did is incredible as a veteran I would like to Thank You.

http://voices.yahoo.com/1973-fire-st-louis-destroyed-millions-military-398247.html
 
Cant typ fast enouigh

Started out using my grandpas HF MD the thing got me hooked. I've also found war nickels and silver dimes with it 4-5 inches down. That purple heart is awesome. My buddy Rseasy1 also found a purple heart he did a lil research on it but ended up taking it the local VA and they was able to find the daughter i believe or maybe granddaughter of the man it belonged to. I think the guys family was located in Oklahoma. Dont know if it ever was returned(probably soo). Story keeps going few months later when me and rseasy was at the spot he found it. A guy pulls up about my age and tells us that a year ago, him and his ExGF was out in the field and lost her uncles purple heart. He said that she had gave it to him after they got together and he put it on his american pitbull terriers collar. Said that the dog had lost it while playing catch in the field that day. We listen but said nothing. I wanted to punch the dude in the face but refrained. I am a pitbull owner and have Military family with honors and found his actions very disrespectful all around. If you cant contact anyone about this i would go to your local VA and give it to them. They will find the right ppl. What a awesome find take a few pics of it and if its returned locally get that pic also. GL HH. Slow typer i just read the outcome GREAT JOB!
 
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What an excellent story and Congrats on your find !! Nice piece of research to find a relative and great job on getting the purple heart back to the family ...BIG CONGRATS !!!!! And to answer your question, yes, they are that much better but if sure seems like you are doing well with the HF detector. There will be time to upgrade later if you choose. Just take the time to learn about your detector and you will continue to find good stuff.
 
That is one great first find! Good job on getting it back to the family. No matter what you find in the future, I am sure you will always remember that one.
 
Congratulations, and bless you for getting that treasure back to the family! Continued good luck on your digging!!! Find some keepers!
 
Just an FYI some of the burned records can be replaced with the IBM punchcard data base search. Only next of kin may apply. Here's the info:

Questions about obtaining WWII military service records
How can I find military service records of World War II veterans?
NARA’s National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis is the depository for military service records for most personnel discharged since the early 20th century from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard. A 1973 fire at the St. Louis center damaged or destroyed many pre-1964 Air Force and pre-1960 Army records. However, NPRC uses many alternate sources, including the WWII Army Enlistment Records, in its efforts to reconstruct basic service information to respond to requests.
Military service records are not online. If you are a veteran or next-of-kin of a deceased veteran, you can request copies of records from NPRC online via http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/. All requesters should visit the NPRC website at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military- personnel/index.html for information about accessing military service records and other related information.
 
Thank you for being respectful and caring enough to find out who this metal belonged to and returning it. You are an asset to our hobby and I am sure all the forum members here feel the same. Welcome and good luck in the future!
 
This may be one of those times when having a cheap detector was an asset in that it only beeped to let him know something was down there and so he dug it up with the enthusiasm that newbies like me have for just finding stuff.

I'm so glad it turned out the way it did. Stories like this would be good for sharing with government bureaucrats that have a disdain for the hobby and seek to limit places available for detecting.

Papa
 
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