Georgia Nonprofits and Charities

DAR Awards Highest Honor to Vermont National Guard Officer <br> <br>Montpelier – At its 115th State Conference the Vermont Daughters of the American Revolution bestowed its organization’s highest award, the National DAR Medal on Honor on Captain Zachariah Fike of Georgia, Vermont. The award recognizes outstanding leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism. Past recipients have included broadcaster Tom Brokaw, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator Bob Dole, and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. <br> <br>Zachariah Fike’s life and work is an inspiring example of the unusual and lasting contribution to American heritage required to earn this honor. Over the last 15 years, Captain Fike has served as an enlisted man and Officer. He is currently serving as an Active Guard Reserve (AGR) Officer and as the Operations Officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry Regiment (Mountain), which is a Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) unit in St. Albans, VT, which is part of the Vermont Army National Guard. Captain Fike has served Combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. For his Service, Zachary has been awarded two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, eight Army Commendation Medals, seven Army Achievement Medals, Army Good Conduct Medal, five Army Reserve Component Achievement Medals, National Defense Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, Iraq Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with 10 Year Device, Army Service Ribbon, Army Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO ISAF Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Combat Action Badge, Pathfinder Badge, and Military Mountaineer Badge. <br> <br>Zachary’s service to country carried over into his private life when he started a nonprofit foundation called Purple Hearts Reunited, which locates lost or stolen U.S. Military Medals and returns them to the veteran who earned them or to their families in order to honor their sacrifice to the nation. Zachary donates a considerable amount of his personal time and finances to researching and locating the original recipient or family and conducts a “Return Ceremony” to reunite the veteran or family with the medal. To date, he has conducted over 65 returns and is currently working on over 200 medals that need a home. He also takes time to enroll these heroes into the Purple Heart Hall of Honor and has personally enrolled over 600 recipients. <br> <br>Since starting this project, Zachary has personally dedicated over 2000 hours and a significant amount of his personal finances toward this effort. As an Active Duty Officer, Zachary works during the day and then returns home for family chores before dedicating 2-3 hours each night to researching each medal and searching for their owners or families. On weekends, he scours local antique/flea markets and pawnshops in order to rescue lost or stolen medals. He also sacrifices his weekends and often takes military leave to conduct the medal return ceremonies, which are conducted throughout America. <br>