Treasurer Stacy Garrity: We must remember them today, tomorrow and every day forward.
Op-ed by Treasurer Stacy Garrity - As Pennsylvania’s state treasurer, I work every day to protect more than $170 billion in taxpayer dollars entrusted to my care, but one of my favorite parts of this job isn’t about the money at all. It’s about honoring the brave men and women who have put their lives on the line to protect our great nation.
To show these Veterans and their families the immense gratitude they deserve, Treasury works tirelessly to return military decorations and memorabilia that find their way to our vault in Harrisburg as unclaimed property. To date, I’ve returned more than 500 military decorations and memorabilia including 12 Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars and one Gold Star Mothers and Widows Pilgrimage Medal.
In honor of Memorial Day, I’d like to share the stories of two brave men forever in our country’s debt, Private First Class Joseph William Morrison and Private Francis Henry Masters Jr.
I returned the Gold Star Medal to Christine Morrison earlier this year during a moving ceremony in Schuylkill County, attended by multiple generations of the Morrison family. She herself was the great-niece of Private First Class Joseph William Morrison who was killed in action on November 1, 1918, just ten days before the end of WWI.
The Gold Star was presented to his mother, Agnes Kissick Morrison in 1933 when she and thousands of other mothers and widows traveled across the Atlantic to France to visit the graves of their husbands and sons who gave their all to protect the world.
John 15:13 reads, “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
PFC Morrison embodied this verse with his love, bravery and dedication to his fellow man. After joining the 554th Ambulance Corp, with his parents’ blessing, he wrote to them saying, “Father, I clearly understand the step that I am taking, and very likely I will have to endure hardships, and in the end receive little thanks. But someone has got to do it, and why should I be the slacker? It is the least of my thoughts, and I can feel that I have done my part in defense of humanity and bringing this terrible war to an end.”
PFC Morrison’s words show his immense courage and selflessness. Two qualities that our countless service members have shown when they put on the uniform in our defense since our nation’s founding.
Decades following the Great War, PVT Francis Henry Masters Jr. of Lackawanna County enlisted and served in the U.S. Army’s 339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division during WWII. Both of his parents were born in England, making him a first-generation American.
One year and one day after beginning his service, on September 24, 1944, PVT Masters was killed in action in Italy. Masters’ Purple Heart would many years later find its way to Treasury’s vault as the contents of a forgotten safe deposit box.
This spring we were able to reunite his Purple Heart with his closest living relative, third-cousin Bill Swartz, who wasn’t aware of his family’s connection to WWII until Treasury found him.
As a Veteran myself, I see these returns as a solemn duty of my office. We will never rest until we find the Veterans who earned them or their families. About 500 medals, pins and ribbons remain in our care. Anyone can help us reunite these priceless items by visiting patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property/medals.
We cannot forget those, like PFC Morrison and PVT Masters, who gave everything for our freedom, those who felt the call of duty to protect not just their families, but their neighbors and their fellow man.
PFC Morrison’s words to his family show the immense understanding of dedication to one’s country and the greater good. He, along with so many before him, alongside him and after him, did not just lose their lives for our protection; families lost parents, children, and siblings, all so we could continue to enjoy the freedoms that we do.
It’s my greatest honor and privilege to return military decorations that are safeguarded by Treasury. Doing so is one way to express my and our Commonwealth’s gratitude to every Veteran for their service, and the ultimate sacrifices paid by those like PFC Morrison and PVT Masters.
We must remember them today, tomorrow and every day forward. Their sacrifice means as much today as it did when they breathed their last in our defense.
This op-ed was originally published by PennLive on May 25, 2025.
