Couple asking for the return of WWII Purple Heart after it was stolen on the 4th of July

FRESNO, California -- A busted door and a ransacked house-- it's how Oscar Speace found his place on the 4th of July.

"Both bedrooms-- everything was dumped on the floor and the bed and those drawers were open."

Everything from religious items to family jewelry, cash, and their passports-- even a bike, but none of those come close to what Speace is missing the most.

"They stole my dad's Purple Heart," Speace said.

Speace's father was as American soldier in World War II. He took shrapnel to his leg, a painful sacrifice that led him to his wife. She was a Holocaust survivor who made it through Auschwitz and was finally liberated from a German work camp before meeting her husband.

It was a love story that Speace turned into a well-received play.

"It's something to remember him by, and it was a terrible time in World War II, but for them it was a romantic time after the war."

Right now there is no law that prohibits the sale of medals, but a bill introduced this year by a California Republican would make selling a Purple Heart a federal offense.

"We don't know why they would take an Army medal. It has no value to them, it has tremendous value to us," said Speace.

Speace's plan now is to secure the house with a burglar alarm and cameras. But his hope is that someone hears his plea and brings the medal back for his family's sake.

Report a typo to the ABC13 staff