A Bridgeport woman says she is heartbroken after losing everything she owned in a fire, including precious mementos of her dad - a Vietnam Purple Heart war hero.

"It wasn't one day that went by where I didn't see or speak to my dad," said Dwan Williams.

The 39-year-old says the bond she shared with her dad, Vietnam veteran Joseph Winston Williams, was the closest bond she has ever had.

"And I always felt protected, you know, like nothing in this world could ever happen to me with him around," she said.

When Dwan Williams' father died in 2020, the flag that draped his casket became a powerful symbol of the love they shared.

"He's always been there for me. Even afterwards, he's still my guardian angel," said Dwam Williams.

She says her world came crashing down on Memorial Day, a time she sets aside to honor her father, when fire ripped through her apartment in a multifamily house on Hancock Avenue in Bridgeport.

"My closet room window shatters and smoke and flames coming through," Dwan Williams said. "And I hear, 'Get out the house, get out the house, you've got to get out the house, the house is on fire.'"

She says virtually everything she owned was destroyed, including the flag that covered her dad's casket

"And once that's gone, you don't get another. They're irreplaceable," she said.

Dwan Williams says her father was forever changed by what he went through in Vietnam, and that she was forever changed by the fire that destroyed all his precious mementos.

"My dad, he's my guardian angel. Even though he's not here, physically, he is still here watching over me," she said.

Officials say several families were displaced and the cause of that fire remains under investigation.

A GoFundMe has been set up for Dwan Williams.