Why were people working to get Thorpe's medals returned to Sweden, by the way?

No, dear, *from Sweden.
The Olympic committee took all his medals away from him when it was discovered he had played baseball and been paid in between Olympic years. The guy had to eat! But they took the medals anyway. There was a movie made of Thorpe's life. I think Burt Lancaster played Thorpe. Not bad.

For the official Jim Thorpe Home Page :
http://www.cmgww.com/sports/thorpe/thorpe.html