PFC John Maruscok was an Italian-born Clevelander with a charming personality and a wife who served as a nurse in World War II, when he was declared Missing in Action near Maizieres-les-Metz, France, on Sept. 8, 1944.
On Friday, his family was reunited with his Purple Heart.
“It was really amazing,” said his niece, Susan Watson, 72, of Strongsville.
Purple Hearts Reunited, a Vermont-based nonprofit that has returned lost, stolen, or misplaced medals of valor to nearly 850 veterans or their families, contacted Watson about presenting her with the medal.
“There’s really nothing like watching the hearts and souls of a family come alive when they are reunited with this tangible symbol of their father, grandfather, or uncle’s sacrifice. In some cases, it’s the sacrifice of life,” said Erin Faith Allen, operations director of Purple Hearts. “In the case of any Purple Heart, it’s a symbol of this veteran who shed his blood for the country, and it’s just a really special thing to present it to the families in person.”
Watson had long been interested in learning more about her uncle and his past service after coming across his name being memorialized on the “Tablets of the Missing” in the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial while on a European vacation cruise. No one knows how the medal
“You have to sort through myths and facts, which is difficult,” Watson said. “I knew that they never found his body and that he was killed during WWII.”
Born in Savogna, Italy, Maruscok served as U.S. Army Private First Class in Company C, 48th Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division as a Light Machine Gunner. He was also the recipient of the Bronze Star.
Maruscok, the eldest of six children, grew up in the Slovenian neighborhood off Saint Clair and 101st after emigrating from Italy to Cleveland, said Watson. She said he had quite the charming personality and married a nurse in the service, Evangeline, who later remarried in 1949.
“They talked about how if he walked into a room, he lit up the room, and it wouldn’t take long before he knew everybody there,” Watson said.
His brothers, August, and Watson’s father, Edward, also served in World War II in the Pacific Theater.
Allen said the process for reuniting families with medals can be complicated sometimes and involves many steps. Due to its prominent presence on social media, Allen said the public often sends in medals to the organization.
“We receive multiple medals every week,” Allen said.
Allen said once the organization receives the veteran’s name, their information is sent off to a team of researchers who trace the person’s military service and then contact the next of kin about presenting them with the medal.
“We try to help in any way we can. We love to support our veterans and their families,” Allen said. “Any link we can point we can them to, or any resource we can guide them to, we will do it with all of our hearts.”
When the coronavirus pandemic hit last spring, the organization ultimately closed operations and only recently resumed. Any in-person presentations now are socially distanced, and the organization follows all COVID protocols.
“We respect the needs of each family and proceed accordingly,” Allen said.
While Purple Hearts doesn’t have the resources currently to facilitate finding remains of soldiers, Allen has offered to personally help connect Watson and her family with the resources to start the process.
“It’s just connecting dots for her, but our mission is to return medals,” Allen said.
Watson hopes that it will lead to the family finally being able to lay Maruscok to rest. “Hopefully, he’ll get the grave after all these years.”
___
© 2021 Advance Local Media LLC
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
