Purple Heart: Soldier Pawns Medal To Pay For Christmas

[greenberetTFS]

Purple Heart: Soldier Pawns Medal To Pay For Christmas...........:(:(:(


Many people head to the pawn shop during the holiday season, selling their valuables for cash to afford gifts for loved ones. But one man in Holland, Mich., loaned something priceless -- his Purple Heart.

In November, a serviceman on leave went to the A-Z Outlet in Holland, a pawn shop owned by Bryan VandenBosch, and sold one of his two Purple Hearts. He earned them after he was wounded while serving in Afghanistan, the Holland Sentinel reported.

"He was falling on hard times," VandenBosch told the Sentinel. "He said the same thing everybody else who comes in here says. He was short on funds."

Michele Belczak, an employee at Max Your Gold in Southfield, Mich., has seen customers selling valuables as they struggle to afford their holiday spending, projected to reach $646 for an average American family this year.

"It's going to hurt less to buy their kids Christmas presents, or Christmas is simply going to be better because they're going to have this extra money they didn't expect to have," she said.

Despite their service to the country, veterans struggle more than most. The veteran unemployment rate in Michigan is almost 30 percent, triple the state's overall unemployment rate and higher than that of any other state.

The Purple Heart award was established in 1932 and is awarded by the president to anyone wounded or killed while serving in the armed forces. It revived the Badge of Military Merit, created by President George Washington in 1782.


The serviceman who gave up his medal of merit remains anonymous. He declined an interview with the Sentinel.

VanderBosch, the pawn shop owner, said he would not sell the valuable military award, keeping it in case the serviceman returned to get his Purple Heart out of hock.


Big Teddy :munchin

[Richard]

The original article.

Serviceman sells Purple Heart
HollandSentinel, 18 Dec 2011

In a lit glass case, nestled between a sterling silver necklace and a black Citizen watch, sits a Purple Heart, an unfortunate souvenir of the war in Afghanistan.

It’s a reminder to all who walk by looking to buy an old treasure or collect a new one, that some things in life don’t have a price tag.

The medal, which was sold in November by a West Michigan man serving in the military, now sits in a case at A-Z Outlet, a pawn shop on North River Avenue owned by Bryan VandenBosch.
“He was falling on hard times,” VandenBosch said of the sale. “He said the same thing everybody else who comes in here says. He was short on funds.”

Holland VFW Post Commander Marcel Estrada has a Purple Heart.

To him, it’s his country’s way of saying “thank you,” but he said not all veterans feel the same about their awards and medals.

“We all have different feelings regarding our medals. It must be a really extreme situation to do that,” he said of the sale. “But we have to respect his decision.”

VandenBosch has seen just about everything come through the doors in his
19 years of business, but never a Purple Heart, a medal awarded by the president to U.S. military personnel killed or wounded in action.

And one thing’s for sure. It’s not for sale, he said.

The man, who declined a Sentinel request to be interviewed, told VandenBosch he was shot while serving in Afghanistan and the Purple Heart he sold was one of two he had earned while serving overseas.

“I was sort of set back by it,” he recalled, who declined to say how much he gave the man for the medal.

Every item in the corner store tells a story, and often it’s a sad tale.

From the sale of a black Cannonball saxophone that helped pay for cancer treatments to the sale of a leather suit that raised enough cash for someone to get out of town and away from an abusive husband, VandenBosch said a lot of times the pawn shop is a last resort for people.

Dave Crume, president of the National Pawnbrokers Association, said that for years, pawn shops have been providing safety net loans to people who encounter sudden emergencies.

Often times a sentimental item is surrendered for enough cash to get from point A to point B, or to pay that stack of bills that has been piling up.

VandenBosch said he’s not sure if the gentleman will ever come back to retrieve his award, but in the meantime, no one else will ever have it in their hands.

“I won’t ever sell it. If he ever decides he wants it, it will be here waiting for him.”

http://http://www.hollandsentinel.com/feature/x1658262183/Serviceman-sells-Purple-Heart

[Dozer523]

At the risk of scroogin' up a touching moment . . .

What'd he get for it? (I know. That's not the point)
Were the orders attached? (are we sure it's his)
Which one did he sell? the one with the OLC?

Not passin' the sniff test here..:(

[scooter]

I call bullshit.

You can get a new, shiny purple heart for about $30....

Thirty dollars? Really? Can't come up with that THIRTY dollars? You rake leaves for $30. If he sold plasma and sperm he could have several hundred.

On a side note, wonder what they'll give me for that master drivers badge...