OK Army Veteran Reunites Korean War Veteran With Stolen War Medals

Thanks to $10, some research and a little bit of faith, a local veteran was reunited with a piece of his past this weekend - something he never thought he'd see again.

It all started with a trip to the local pawn shop, Broken Arrow Gold Buyer & Pawn, and ended with two veterans of completely different generations bonding over a long-lost treasure.

It wasn't the guitars or the costume jewelry that caught Lonnie Hutton's eye. He actually came in to look at the pawn shop's knives because his son collects them.

Instead, a set of war medals stopped the Army veteran in his tracks.

"It was seeing the stars on the medals themselves that stood out. I just, they had to go home with me and let me find who owned them," he said.

Hutton paid $10 and the medals went home with him.

But, as someone who proudly served eight years in the 101st Airborne Recon Unit, AKA the Rakkasans, he knew the medals should go back to their original owner.

"I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose my medals like that," Hutton said.

Luckily, there was a name engraved into them - Jim Mullings. So, Hutton and his son did some research and discovered Mullings served in the Korean War is now in his 80s and lives in Jenks.

Saturday, Hutton hand-delivered the medals to Mullings, saying, “Gave me goosebumps; there wasn't a part of my body that didn't have goosebumps."

Mullings told him he'd enlisted for the war at 16 and the medals were stolen from his home during a burglary in 1977. He never thought he'd get them back, but all it took was a little bit of chance and a connection - from one veteran to another.

Hutton said, "I knew it needed to go home. I mean, it's, that's just the way it is with us. We all served together, we're all brothers and sisters, and I'm so glad they went home."

The pawn shop said it's common for them to get war medals in, but it's rare that their stories end up like this.