BANGOR — An Orono man has recovered the Purple Heart his brother received for his service in Vietnam more than a decade after it disappeared, thanks to a chance visit to a Bangor shop.

Army Pvt. Larry Nadeau died in January 1966.

Allen Nadeau tells the Bangor Daily News he treasured the inscribed medal his brother received posthumously.

In 2000, he lent it to the local chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America for an educational display.

Somehow it got lost and repeated attempts to find it failed.

Allen Nadeau took another shot in January, asking the local chapter’s vice president for help.

On a whim, Ted Pietz stopped in the Maritime International shop in Bangor in June and asked about the medal.

Turns out the store owner had it and gladly turned it over to its rightful owner.


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