More than 70 years later, Lt. Col. Matthew Yansura and Cadet Jay Choi, reunite the Purple Heart medal and certificate with the family of Tech. 5 th Grade Robert Mathis, Nov. 13, 2016, at the Holocaust Memorial Center, Farmington Hills, Mich.

Lt. Col. Matthew Yandura was stationed at the Jerusalem Consulate and discovered Robert Mathis’ Purple Heart certificate in a consignment shop. After months of research, Cadet Jay Choi, a senior in the Loyola Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program, located Robert’s family.

In 1912, Reuven Matusevitch was born in Kaunas, Lithuania and after graduating college and completing his Lithuanian Army Service, he immigrated to the United States around 1939. He changed his name to Robert Mathis and enlisted into the Army’s 36th Combat Engineers and was deployed to defend the beachfront of Anzio, Italy and perished there. He joined his siblings and other family members and changed his name to Robert Mathis. Robert's family perished during the Nazi invasion around 1941. (Michigan National Guard video by Spc. Eric Bandy/Released)