BETHEL, Maine – A California man is celebrating his 80th birthday by receiving his brother's long lost Purple Heart, exactly 66 years since he learned the brother wasn't coming home from the Korean War.
Raymond Coulombe (KOO-lom) is in Maine to receive the medal. His brother, Sgt. Joseph Maurice Coulombe, was killed in action in 1951.
Zachariah Fike, founder of Purple Hearts Reunited, says Maurice's Purple Heart was sent to his wife after his death. The fact that Maurice was married was unknown to his family.
Fike says the widow recently died, and her daughter discovered it and turned to Purple Hearts Reunited to help locate family and return the medal.
Maurice was born in Berlin, New Hampshire. Raymond is receiving the medal in their nearby hometown of Bethel, Maine.
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