DENISON, Texas (KTEN) -- Henry Ferguson was a casualty of World War II. He was just 25 years old when he died in 1945.

His niece, Sue Gibson Ferguson, said her only memory of him has been a photograph at her grandparents' home. 

"Picture of him in his military uniform... yeah, hanging in their living room my entire life," she said.

Seventy-five years later, an e-commerce manager for Goodwill Industries in Arkansas found Henry Ferguson's Purple Heart medal in the pocket of a donated jacket. 

Spokesperson Kerri Nettles said that discovery spurred the curiosity of the Goodwill employee.

"He found the soldier's name inscribed on the back, and he hopped online to see what he could learn," Nettles said. 

A Facebook post about the discovery was shared more than 1,000 times and was seen by more than 80,000. 

"People just kept sending in possible leads, resources they thought of, or different things they found on the internet," Nettles said.

Sue Gibson was eventually tagged and was dumbfounded. She couldn't understand how the Purple Heart made its way to Arkansas.

"My family always lived in southeast Oklahoma around the Antlers area, so how it even got there I don't know," Gibson said.

Nettles explained that things end up in donations all the time, but this was definitely unique. 

"Never one exactly like this," she said. "It's really touching. It was something that was important to us, and we knew it would be important to the family as well."

And in the end, Henry Ferguson's survivors ended up with more than just their soldier's Purple Heart. 

"Even his birth certificate," Gibson said. "We knew he was buried in the Netherlands, but we didn't know which cemetery."

The medal was shipped from Arkansas last Friday and should be delivered this week.