FReeper Canteen~The Purple Heart Medal~May 1st 2006

The Animaniacs

[AZamericonnie]

 

The Free Republic Canteen Looks At The Purple Heart

 

Attached to the piece of dark blue cloth is a purple heart of silk, bound with braid and edged with lace. The cloth is believed to be part of the uniform or the tunic of a soldier of the Continental Army.

There is no name, rank or regimental insignia on the piece of cloth. The Purple Heart is displayed in Washington, DC, at the Society of the Cincinnati's Anderson House Museum and another at Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh, New York. The Purple Heart itself is what signified a hero of the Revolutionary War.

The Purple Heart was awarded to three soldiers - Sgts. Elijah Churchill, William Brown, and Daniel Bissell Jr. On May 3, 1783, Churchill and Brown received the Purple Heart, then called the Badge of Military Merit, from Gen. George Washington, its designer and creator. Bissell received his on June 10, 1783. These three are the only known recipients of the award during the Revolutionary War.

On August 7, 1782, at his Newburgh, New York headquarters, Washington devised two badges of distinction to be worn by enlisted men and noncommissioned officers. The first was a chevron to be worn on the left sleeve of the coat. It signified loyal military service. Three years of service with "bravery, fidelity and good conduct" were the criteria for earning this badge; two chevrons meant six years of service.

The second, named the Badge of Military Merit, was the "figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding." This badge was for "any singularly meritorious action" and permitted the wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge. The honoree's name and regiment were inscribed in a Book of Merit.

After the Revolutionary War, no more Americans soldiers received the Badge of Military Merit. It was not until October 10, 1927, that Army Chief of Staff, General Charles P. Summerall, directed a draft bill to be sent to Congress "to revive the Badge of Military Merit."

The Army withdrew the bill on January 3, 1928, but the Office of the Adjutant General filed all correspondence for possible future use.

Although a number of private efforts were made to have the medal reinstituted, it wasn't until January 7, 1931 that Summerall's successor General Douglas MacArthur, confidentially reopened the case. His object was to have a new medal issued on the bicentennial of George Washington's birth.

Miss Elizabeth Will, in the Office of the Quartermaster General, created the design from guidelines provided her. The only difference in her design is that a sprig appeared where the profile of Washington is on the present Purple Heart.

John R. Sinnick of the Philadelphia Mint made the plaster model in May 1931. The War Department announced the new award on February 22, 1932.

After the award was reinstated, recipients of a Meritorious Service Citation Certificate during World War I, along with other eligible soldiers, could exchange their award for the Purple Heart.

At the same time, revisions to Army regulations defined the conditions of the award.

"A wound which necessitates treatment by a medical officer and which is received in action with an enemy, may in the judgment of the commander authorized to make the award be construed as resulting from a singularly meritorious act of essential service." At that time the Navy Department did not authorize the issue of the Purple Heart, but Franklin D. Roosevelt amended that. By Executive Order on December 3, 1942, the award was extended to the Navy, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard beginning December 6, 1941.

President Harry S. Truman retroactively extended eligibility to the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard to April 5, 1917, to cover World War I.

President John F. Kennedy extended eligibility on April 25, 1962, to "any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with an armed force..., has been, or may hereafter be, wounded."

President Ronald Reagan, on February 23, 1984, amended President Kennedy's order, to include those wounded or killed as a result of "an international terrorist attack."  Purple Heart Medals were awarded to military members or next of kin who were wounded or killed in the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001.

Army regulations, amended June 20, 1969, state that any "member of the Army who was awarded the Purple Heart for meritorious achievement or service, as opposed to wounds received in action, between December 7, 1941 and September 22, 1943, may apply for award of an appropriate decoration in lieu of the Purple Heart."

There are no records of the first individual who received the revived and redesigned Purple Heart. Local posts of the American Legion and the Adjutant Generals of state National Guards both held ceremonies to honor recipients.

What Washington wrote in his orderly book on August 7, 1782 still stands today:
 

"The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus open to all. This order is also to have retrospect to the earliest stages of the war, and to be considered a permanent one."
 

Shortly after the award was re-instituted a group of combat wounded veterans in Ansonia, Connecticut, formed the first chapter of the civilian organization whose membership was composed of recipients of the decoration. Their action gave birth to a fraternal body which, until then, had been just a record on paper. The living organization grew rapidly during and after World War II and is now a nationwide body. It became known as the "MILITARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART of the United States of America, Inc." (MOPH) The organization was chartered by Congress by H.R. 13558 which became Public Law 85-761, on August 26, 1958.

MOPH maintains its' national headquarters in Springfield, Virginia, and has chapters throughout the United States. The organization represents veterans' interests before Congress, the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense, and elsewhere.

In addition, the Order is proud of its key role in the National Service Program. The Order maintains a full time National Service Director who supervises the over 300 salaried and volunteer service officers. All Purple Heart Service Officers have been accredited by the Veterans Administration. They provide assistance and representation for all veterans, their dependents and survivors, in obtaining their rightful entitlements and benefits. All service is always FREE.

Click to read more about the Badge of Military Merit

Kings, royalty and other persons of imperial, royal or other high rank wore Purple Silks. In some countries, commoners were severely punished or fined for wearing what was known as "royal silks." During reign of the Roman Empire, silk was sold for its weight in gold.

The only undoubted notice of silk in the Bible occurs in Rev. 18: 12, where it is mentioned among the treasures of the typical Babylon. It is, however, in the highest degree probable that the textile was known to the Hebrews from the time their commercial relations were extended by Solomon. The well-known classical name of the substance does not occur in the Hebrew language. The color "Purple" is mentioned in Proverbs 31:22 and Matthew 15:17.

Natural Indigo (Purple C₁₆H₁₀N₂O₂.) is perhaps the oldest dye known to man. The oldest historic tests speak of it, as in the colors chosen for the Tabernacle of the Arc of the Covenant. The oldest fragments of cloth are dyed with it. It is a dye known to all cultures of the world.

History is replete with information concerning the value and scarcity of "purple silk." Scarcity determines the value of any marketable product and so that has always been true with "purple silk." Purple raiment was also worn by the "crowns" of Europe and thereby influenced the developing social structure of our Colonists. Purple is known as the color of royalty.

General Washington chose purple silk for the fashioning of the three Badges of Military Merit which he awarded at his headquarters in Newburgh, New York. Since silk production started in the United States in 1810, the silk used in these three awards must have been imported. I believe it is entirely feasible that Mrs. Washington, because of her domestic skills, had a part in the development of these three Badges of Military Merit.

A concept of the Purple Heart design may originally have influenced the practice of making the best wooden stocks for flintlock muskets from the purple-colored heart of the trunk of the Purple Heart tree.

Elizabeth Will designed the original Purple Heart Medal which was announced on February 22, 1932.

 

 

President George W. Bush speaks to U.S. Army Corporal James Rednour, of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, after presenting him with The Purple Heart for injuries Cpl. Rednour sustained while serving in Iraq. President Bush visited troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Thursday, December 18, 2003. Cpl. Rednour's parents, Chuck and Cindy look on. White House Photo by Eric Draper

Click the pic to read more.

               

For more information about the Purple Heart, including detailed rules for who may receive it, check out the following websites, from which this thread was compiled:

http://www.purpleheart.org/

http://www.americal.org/awards/ph.htm

http://www.homepages.rootsweb.com/~sebring

               

Today's Field Trip:  Tyndall AFB, Florida

 

Raptor 18, the first F/A-22 to be delivered to the Air Force, sits on the ramp after landing at Tyndall  Air Force Base, Fla., piloted by Lt. Col. Jeffrey Harrigian, 43FS/CC, Sept. 26, 2003.

 

 

[AZamericonnie]

Please thank StarCMC for this thread. I am only posting it for her till she gets home. This has been a FReeper Canteen service announcement....

[The Mayor]

May 1, 2006

You Can’t Buy It

LISTEN TO ODB RADIO: Real | MP3 | WMA

READ: Romans 6:15-23

Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! —Acts 8:20

A missionary to the people of the Philippines was trying to explain salvation to a wealthy woman, but the woman didn’t understand that she couldn’t pay for it.

So the missionary gave her this illustration: “If you wanted to give your daughter a big, beautiful mansion as a gift, how would you feel if she said, ‘Mother, you must let me help you pay for the gift. You know I work for the mission hospital and don’t make much money, but I think I can squeeze out $8 a month.’”

She went on: “That’s what you are saying to God. You want to help pay for what Jesus has already paid for. A home in heaven is a gift. It is an insult to try to help pay for it.”

All over the world devout, well-meaning people—rich, poor, and in-between—struggle to understand that Jesus paid it all. Convinced that they have to do something to earn God’s favor, they attempt to pay for salvation as best they can.

We need to understand that when God gave His Son Jesus as a sacrifice, the bill for our sin was paid. For us to try to pay for God’s gift is insulting to Him. Genuine trust is believing that God has already taken care of the payment. We don’t need to buy something that has already been purchased with Jesus’ death on the cross. —Dave Branon

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain—
He washed it white as snow.  —Hall

If we could earn our salvation, Christ would not have died to provide it.

[GummyIII]

2ND!

[Radix]

One? Two? Three?

[AZamericonnie]

Johnny on the spot again dear Mayor!

[GummyIII]

He pushed me....that's why he's first. Humph... ;-)

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

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[AZamericonnie]

Well now....gosh is it good to see you!!! You have been on my mind Gummy! *Hugs*

[GummyIII]

Hi, Connie!! Thought I'd drop in. I've been admiring the juke boxes on the other threads!!

[AZamericonnie]

In the top three Radix! I think I need to find more ribbons!:) Good evening!

[AZamericonnie]

Mayor! Did you push Gummy? Tsk Tsk!:)

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

StarCMC : Thanks for today's thread!

AZamericonnie : Thanks for being the backup poster!

[The Mayor]

I didn't push you.......

You just got in the way that's all. : )

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

FYI : Look in upper right corner of "My Comments" page.
Set it for "Brief" instead of Full.
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[ConorMacNessa]

Thanks to StarCMC and AZamericonnie for posting this thread.

Thanks to the Purple Heart veterans of all of our wars. By virtue of their sacrifice, we continue to live in freedom.

[AZamericonnie]

Here ya go Radix!:)

[HighWheeler]

[HighWheeler]

The last full measure of devotion
By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer
Published January 25, 2004


The GIs were dirty, mosquito-bitten, fatigued, homesick. They had been on the road almost constantly for two weeks. Many had not slept in days.

At dawn on April 4, they arrived at Saddam International Airport to the sound of sporadic gunfire and the acrid smell of distant explosions. Breakfast was a mushy, prepackaged concoction the Army optimistically calls "pasta with vegetables."

Still, the mood was upbeat.

Reaching the airport meant the war was almost over. Some of the men broke out cheap cigars to celebrate.

Afterward, Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith and his combat engineers set about their mission that day, putting up a roadblock on the divided highway that connects the airport and Baghdad. Then, just before 10 a.m., a sentry spotted Iraqi troops nearby. Maybe 15 or 20. By the time Smith had a chance to look for himself, the number was closer to 100.

Smith could oppose them with just 16 men.

He ordered his soldiers to take up fighting positions and called for a Bradley, a powerful armored vehicle. It arrived quickly and opened fire. The Americans thought they were in control until, inexplicably, the Bradley backed up and left.

"Everybody was like, "What the hell?"' said Cpl. Daniel Medrano. "We felt like we got left out there alone."

The outnumbered GIs faced intense Iraqi fire. Whether they would survive the next few minutes hinged largely on Smith. He was 33 years old, a 1989 graduate of Tampa Bay Vocational-Technical High School, a husband and father of two.

To his men, Smith was like a character in the old war movies they had watched as kids, an infuriating, by-the-book taskmaster they called the "Morale Nazi."

But Smith had spent much of his adult life preparing for precisely this moment. Indeed, in a letter to his parents composed just before the war, he seems to have anticipated it:

There are two ways to come home, stepping off the plane and being carried off the plane. It doesn't matter how I come home because I am prepared to give all that I am to ensure that all my boys make it home.

Uncommon valor

What explains Smith's commitment to his men?

Few clues are to be found in the story of his early years, growing up in Tampa's Palma Ceia neighborhood. He and three siblings were raised by a single mother who worked two jobs to support the family. Smith was a so-so student, not much of an athlete, not particularly popular. His childhood was altogether unremarkable.

He studied woodworking in high school and did trim work for a contractor. After graduating in June 1989, Smith joined the Army. He was motivated not by patriotism but a desire to find a job offering more stability than the paycheck-to-paycheck life of a carpenter. As a new recruit, Smith left an impression of someone more interested in partying than, say, marksmanship.

But by the time he got to Saddam International Airport, Smith was a different man, a master of the soldier's art. On April 4, in the words of his commanding officer, Smith displayed "extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor without regard for his own life in order to save others . . . in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service. . ."

What Smith offered his men, Abraham Lincoln, in an earlier age, called "the last full measure of devotion."

***

A quarter-million Americans have served in the Iraq war. Paul Ray Smith is the only one thus far nominated for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for bravery.

Since the start of World War II, just 842 men have received the Medal of Honor. Almost two-thirds were killed in the action for which they were nominated.

"If the Medal of Honor today has an intangible and solemn halo around it," wrote author Allen Mikaelian, "it is partly due to those men who did not survive to wear it."

Gen. George Patton said he would give his soul for one. Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman said they would rather have the medal than be president.

By law, the Medal of Honor is awarded by the president only to those in the armed services who distinguish themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of (their lives) above and beyond the call of duty."

"Above and beyond the call of duty" has a specific meaning. The medal is not awarded to those who act under orders, no matter how heroic their actions. In fact, according to Library of Congress defense expert David F. Burrelli, it must be "the type of deed which, if he had not done it, would not subject him to any justified criticism."

Given the extraordinarily high standard, it is far from certain Smith will be awarded the Medal of Honor. But his story is as much about professionalism as it is heroism. He had thought about what it means to lead men in combat. He knew that men will more willingly follow a superior who exposes himself to danger, shares their hardships, shows concern for their welfare.

On April 4, Smith did all of those things.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

From the men in the Military and the Canteen

[AZamericonnie]

Happy to help Mr Tonkin....she did another fine job!