Lt. Col. Matthew Yandura, Professor of Military Science,

Lt. Col. Matthew Yandura, Professor of Military Science, Loyola Univercity, Chicago, talks about finding the Purple Heart and reuniting the Purple Heart medal and certificate with the family of Tech. 5 th Grade Robert Mathis, Nov. 13, 2016, at the Holocaust Memorial Center, Farmington Hills, Mich.
Lt. Col. Matthew Yandura was stationed at the Jerusalem Consulate and discovered Robert Mathis’ Purple Heart certificate in a consignment shop. After months of research, Cadet Jay Choi, a senior in the Loyola Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program, located Robert’s family.
In 1912, Reuven Matusevitch was born in Kaunas, Lithuania and after graduating college and completing his Lithuanian Army Service, he immigrated to the United States around 1939. He enlisted into the Army’s 36th Combat Engineers and was deployed to defend the beachfront of Anzio, Italy. He joined his siblings and other family members and changed his name to Robert Mathis. Robert and his family perished during the Nazi invasion around 1941. (Michigan National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st. Class Helen Miller/Released)