Purple Heart medal returned to family of late Illinois WWII veteran

DECATUR, Ill. - An Illinois woman was reunited with her late father's Purple Heart from WWII just in time for Veterans Day. 

U.S. Marine Corps Private First-Class Delbert G. Tuttle was honored for wounds he suffered during the Battle of Saipan in the Pacific Theater on June 15, 1944.

Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs returned Tuttle's Purple Heart to his daughter, Carolyn Peckham, during a private ceremony at the World War II Memorial outside the Decatur Civic Center on Oct. 29.

"My father loved my brother and I very, very much," Peckham said. "The war was very difficult for him. He carried it with him forever. But he was always there for us. He was very loving."

Tuttle was born in Tuscola, Illinois, on Oct. 6, 1919. He briefly lived on Chicago's West Side after the war where he met his future wife, Lorraine Fellows. They married and moved to Decatur, where he worked as a machinist for the A. W. Cash Company. He died April 16, 1972, while battling lung cancer. He was buried at Camp Butler National Cemetery in Springfield.

The military award was returned as part of Illinois' Operation Purple Heart, a mission to return lost medals to war heroes and their families. 

"Private First Class Tuttle put aside his own wounds so that he could help his fellow combatants take a battleground that was key to ushering in the end of the Second World War," Frerichs said. "No matter the passage of time, his bravery and sacrifice shall never be forgotten, especially as we return this Purple Heart to his family."

Tuttle's Purple Heart medal was found among several others inside an abandoned safe deposit box. By state law, the awards were turned over to the State Treasurer’s Office. Frerichs has been working to return each award since they were found in November 2021.