ALBANY, N.Y. — Willie Riley taught his children that family comes first. The Vietnam veteran was humble and rarely spoke about his time as a gunner. but the one thing he would discuss is his lost purple heart. 

The medal was somehow lost after Riley was injured. For years his son and daughter, both servicemembers, thought their aunt was the last to have the medal. 

"My aunt's house was broken into so we always thought it was stolen or it was just gone," explains Heather Jackson, Riley's daughter.

Years later came the call the family was looking for. The purple heart was found just weeks ago, at the beginning on November, in a lockbox two hours away from where her aunt lived in Illinois.

Unfortunately, Riley was never reunited with his purple heart. He passed away December 17, 2016 at the age of 71. 

"It's just a blessing. It's very, very, surreal for us. Now to have it home and we actually have, although he passed right next to Christmas, we can actually celebrate something now," says Jackson.

The purple heart is now with Jackson's mother in Long Island.