Stolen war medals returned decades later
Long-lost war medals were returned after diligent efforts by police, a Kelowna man says.
Don Hickey praises the work by the RCMP in returning medals earned by his grandfather, Dave Hickey, in the First World War, as well as medals won by his uncle, Joe Hickey, in the Second World War.
The medals were stolen during a burglary of Joe Hickey’s home in Edmonton in 1953. They were found in 2004 inside the wall of a home being renovated in Cochrane, Alta.
“It meant a lot to our family to get these medals back,” Hickey, who took possession of the medals a few days ago from his brother, said Thursday.
“I just thought every old soldier now in a nursing home somewhere might like to hear this story, that people respect what they did and how they served our country,” Hickey said.
As with most military medals, there were no names on those found by a surprised contractor doing the home renovation, but there were serial numbers.
The six medals were turned over to the Cochrane RCMP detachment, and an officer accessed military service records to determine who they had been awarded to.
She then did some genealogical research to determine the Hickeys’ closest living relatives.
Hickey’s mother, then living in Kelowna, was contacted by police, and the medals were sent to the local RCMP detachment in an evidence bag for her to pick up.
Perhaps because the medals had been hidden away in a wall for so many years, they are in remarkably good shape, with the metal clean and lustrous and the ribbons in vivid colour.
Says Hickey: “I’m going to take very good care of them.”