NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Master Sgt. James Sanders spent 20 years in the Army.
The decorated soldier received several medals for his time in the service.
And for a while his son held on to some of those medals — placing them in a safe deposit box at a bank in Nashville more than 25 years ago — until the bank closed.
But thanks to Tennessee law protecting all military decorations, the State Department of Treasury has been keeping those medals safe — until today — when they gave them back to the family.
Jai Sanders still remembers the stories his father James Sanders will share about his time in the Army.
"I learned about three words of German when I was a kid, but he would talk about waking up in a tent in Guam with lizards that were yeah big."
His father was raised in Nashville and served in the U.S. Army from February 1942 to October 1962, retiring as a Master Sergeant.
Sanders was drafted into WWII.
He also later served in the Korean War and his time in combat included tours in Guam, Germany, Korea, and the Mariana Islands.
But the Master Sergeant did bring home several medals for his service before he died in 1996.
"We had these few medals that were scattered around the house, and I put them in a safe deposit box and completely forgot about them and the bank closed," Sanders said.
But those lost medals found their way home.
In a ceremony fit for a hero, the family got a piece of their past back.
The Unclaimed Property Program through the State Department of Treasury Division held onto the medals since 2015.
"I want to thank the treasurer department for finding them, keeping them and returning them to me."
In Tennessee, unclaimed property is money that has been turned over to the state by businesses and organizations that cannot find the owners.
A division of the Tennessee Treasury works to get this money back to the rightful owners.
The Unclaimed Property Medal Protection program is due to legislation passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in May 2011 to protect military medals for Tennessee veterans by asking banks and other organizations with abandoned safe deposit boxes to turn over any military medals, decorations, and awards presented to a member of the Armed Forces or National Guard.
Individuals should check www.ClaimItTN.gov at least once per year.
