After a Purple Heart medal was found abandoned in a vehicle in Reno, Nevada, a two-year search for its owner has turned up a long lost son.
Abandoned Medal
Several years ago, a Purple Heart medal with the name “Charles N. Lincoln” was found in the back of a vehicle in the All Points Towing junkyard. No one at the junkyard knew what to do with the medal, so it was given to the owner of the window-tinting business next door, retired U.S. Marine Howard “Mac” McField.
“I was surprised that a medal like that was left in a car. And I wondered, did the person lose it, misplace it, was it stolen? So, I just felt it was just right to get it back to its rightful owner,” McField said.
The two-year search for the family of Charles Lincoln was difficult. McField reached out to Frank Greenwood, who works with the Reno Chapter #1 Disabled American Veterans organization, with both agreeing that, as fellow veterans, it was their duty to find the proper home for the medal.
“You don’t find Purple Hearts laying in abandoned cars, I mean it’s just so unusual,” Greenwood said.
“I’ve yet to fail on a mission. And for me at this point I feel as though I was failing because I didn’t accomplish what I set out to do,” McField said.
New Information
Together, McField and Greenwood were able to trace the name on the back of the medal to a World War II veteran from Greenfield, Massachusetts. After receiving help from the Upper Pioneer Valley Veteran’s Services, they were able to find more details about Lincoln’s life.
According to a local news outlet, “Charles Lincoln was born to Frederick Lincoln and Rosetta Nichols in 1917. He enlisted in the Navy in 1934. By February 21, 1945 at the age of 27, Lincoln was dead… On February 21, 1945, the USS Bismarck sunk when it was hit by two kamikaze planes during the Battle of Iwo Jima. More that 300 sailors were killed, Lincoln included. His family was notified of his death in April 1945.”
From the information gathered at the time, it appeared that Lincoln had died before having any children. This led to the decision to display his medal at the Upper Pioneer Valley Veteran’s Services.
That decision didn’t last long.
After KOLO 8 News Now reported on the story, a man claiming to be the son of Charles Lincoln reached out to Greenwood with an amazing story.
Long-Lost Son
James Johnson told Greenwood that Charles Lincoln had developed a relationship with a woman named Arlene, whose Army husband had been reported missing in action and presumed dead. James was born in January of 1945, and although Lincoln knew about him, he never got the chance to meet his son, as he died just one month later.
Soon after Lincoln was killed, Arlene learned that her husband had been found, and was headed home.
“And so she got desperate. She didn’t know at that point whether he would accept me or not, and so she talked to her sister and her sister adopted me,” Johnson said.
He also noted that his aunt being his birth mother was never a family secret, that he had known all along. Johnson’s adopted mother, Francis, had even written to Lincoln’s mother, Rosetta, to let her know that she had a grandchild, and that her son’s memory would live on. Several letters between the two have corroborated this information. Rosetta even met James on at least one occasion.
Though Johnson was aware of all of this, he loved his adoptive mother so much that he never really wanted to learn more about his past, until this new information and the Purple Heart had come to light. Now he is eager to learn more.
“It’s interesting. I never thought about it before but now all of this has evolved, and I have more of an interest than I ever have before. It’s interesting I had a father who wanted me so much,” said Johnson, who has planned a road trip with his wife from their home in Montana to Nevada to retrieve his father’s medal, and to meet Greenwood and McField.
“It’s so important that we get this back to the family. It’s an heirloom. You know the family should be proud that he gave his life for this country,” Greenwood said.
Seventy-six years after U.S. Navy Chief Commissary Steward Charles N. Lincoln died in kamikaze attacks during the Battle of Iwo Jima, a posthumously awarded Purple Heart has found its home.
