FESTUS, Mo. (AP) - Nearly a century after Maj. Ernest Slusher of Missouri earned two medals for bravery during World War I, his family has them back.
Missouri State Treasurer Clint Zweifel (ZWY'-ful) was in the St. Louis-area town of Festus Thursday to return the Distinguished Service Cross and Croix de Guerre (KRWAH'-duh-gerr) to Margaret Means, a relative of Slusher.
The medals had been turned over as unclaimed property to Zweifel's office after they were found in a safe deposit box that Slusher's family didn't know he had. Slusher was a Kansas City, Mo., physician who died in 1957.
A state bill passed in 2010 allowed them to be displayed at the state Capitol in Jefferson City. Means saw news coverage about the medals and learned they belonged to her family.