Auction Of Grandfather's World War I Medals Aims To Provide A 'Better Life' For Homeless Grandson
UPDATE: Ebay auction is over. Winning bid was for $13,900.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The value of a collection of World War 1 medals is mostly sentimental, but the effort to find the homeless man who sold them has real worth.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports.
At Crystal Lake's Trading Post they buy sell and trade all kinds of stuff—like a drill or maybe a knife.
"You never know what you are going to buy," said the Trading Post's Pete Kozysa. "You never know what is going to come through that front door."
The work is interesting enough that Kozysa has over 140,000 subscribers to his You Tube channel.
A collection of 100-year-old framed British military medals and a stoic photo of Bernard Kearns, the World War 1 soldier they belonged to, is hitting a chord.
"It kind of went viral," said Kozysa.
Just before the New Year, Kearns' bearded grandson came in to sell the medals. He said he was homeless --- and even though each was worth $20 to $50, he needed to sell them.
Kozysa paid him $50 and made sure the man wanted to sell the family treasures.
The encounter, posted to Kozysa's channel, has prompted dozens of comments from people wanting to buy the medals, and help the bearded seller.
To reach a wider audience, the Trading Post even listed the medals for sale on Ebay, where bids have climbed to more than $1,700.
But there is just one problem. Kozysa only knows the grandson's name, Kevin Kearns.
The address Kearns gave turned out to be a warehouse, and the man who lives in his van left no phone number, no way to share the good will of online strangers.
I would love to find this guy," Kozysa said. "Wouldn't be that great to share that money we could raise with this and give it to him and make his life better."
Late this afternoon CBS was able to find Kevin Kearns and put him in touch with Kozysa.
Now they are awaiting the end of tomorrow's Ebay auction.
