Okla-homey
8/7/2007, 06:15 AM
August 7, 1782 : Washington creates the Purple Heart
http://aycu04.webshots.com/image/25723/2001844481702782324_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001844481702782324)
225 years ago today, at Army headquarters in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington, the CinC of the Continental Army, creates the "Badge for Military Merit" to honor soldiers for extraordinary acts. The decoration consisted of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with a narrow binding of silver, with the word "Merit" stitched across the face in silver.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/23703/2001845539744154578_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001845539744154578)
Only surviving original Purple Heart decoration. Dating to the Revolution
The badge was to be presented to soldiers for "any singularly meritorious action" and permitted its wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge. The honoree's name and regiment were also to be inscribed in a "Book of Merit."
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/25538/2001859842078290862_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001859842078290862)
Washington's "Purple Heart" was awarded to only three known soldiers during the Revolutionary War: Elijah Churchill, William Brown, and Daniel Bissell, Jr. The "Book of Merit" was lost, and the decoration was largely forgotten until 1927, when General Charles P. Summerall, the U.S. Army chief of staff, sent an unsuccessful draft bill to Congress to "revive the Badge of Military Merit."
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/23391/2001872504646966990_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001872504646966990)
Charles Pelot Summerall. Chief of staff of the United States Army, 1926-1930. As CSA; directed the formation of a mechanized force and recommended an integrated mobile force of tank, artillery, engineer, and quartermaster elements. Retired from active service, March 1931. Was president of The Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina, 1931-1953; died in Washington, D.C., on 14 May 1955.
In 1931, Summerall's successor as CSA, General Douglas MacArthur*, took up the cause, hoping to reinstate the medal in time for the bicentennial of George Washington's birth. On February 22, 1932, Washington's 200th birthday, the U.S. War Department announced the creation of the "Order of the Purple Heart."
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/24648/2001846534069463784_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001846534069463784)
Douglas MacArthur as CSA. President Herbert Hoover appointed MacArthur Army Chief of Staff in November 1930. he served in that capacity until 1935. When the Commonwealth of the Philippines achieved semi-independent status in 1935, the country's president, Manuel L. Quezon, asked MacArthur to supervise the creation of a Philippine Army. As a general, MacArthur elected not to retire and remained on the active list as a major general and with Roosevelt's approval, MacArthur accepted the assignment. MacArthur had been friends with Quezon when his father was Governor General. MacArthur had two conditions for taking the job: both his salary and his housing was to be equal to that of the president. MacArthur was in the Phillippines when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941.
In addition to aspects of Washington's original design, the new Purple Heart also displays a bust of Washington and his coat of arms. The Order of the Purple Heart, the oldest American military decoration for military merit, is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy. It is also awarded to soldiers who have suffered maltreatment as prisoners of war.
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/22915/2001837248543746843_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001837248543746843)
Wounded soldier receiving her Purple Heart in a Combat Surgical Hospital (CASH) in Mosul, Iraq
As an aside, it has been said, the Purple Heart is the highest military decoration that no one wants to earn.
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/22915/2001850049403670866_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001850049403670866)
The Military Order of the Purple heart believes major highways are the ideal setting for a virtual memorial trail, and ultimately, the MOPH would like to see the entire Interstate Highway System, conceived by General Dwight D. Eisenhower during his tenure as President of the United States, designated as major portions of the Purple Heart Trail. Instructional kits have been developed and are in the hands of all Department Commanders on how to initiate necessary legislation in their respective states to implement the continued growth of the Purple Heart Trail System.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/23703/2001847792111174349_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001847792111174349)
The longest stretch of interstate that has been officially designated of the "Purple Heart Trail" by the states through which it passes is I-95 on the east coast. I-95 runs from Miami to Maine.
* The very same four-star general Douglas MacArthur who, eleven years later, would command American armies in the Pacific Theater during WWII, and, ten years after that, pull-off the incredible Inchon landing and salvation of the ROK during the Korean Conflict.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/24528/2001807470891028384_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001807470891028384)
http://aycu04.webshots.com/image/25723/2001844481702782324_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001844481702782324)
225 years ago today, at Army headquarters in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington, the CinC of the Continental Army, creates the "Badge for Military Merit" to honor soldiers for extraordinary acts. The decoration consisted of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with a narrow binding of silver, with the word "Merit" stitched across the face in silver.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/23703/2001845539744154578_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001845539744154578)
Only surviving original Purple Heart decoration. Dating to the Revolution
The badge was to be presented to soldiers for "any singularly meritorious action" and permitted its wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge. The honoree's name and regiment were also to be inscribed in a "Book of Merit."
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/25538/2001859842078290862_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001859842078290862)
Washington's "Purple Heart" was awarded to only three known soldiers during the Revolutionary War: Elijah Churchill, William Brown, and Daniel Bissell, Jr. The "Book of Merit" was lost, and the decoration was largely forgotten until 1927, when General Charles P. Summerall, the U.S. Army chief of staff, sent an unsuccessful draft bill to Congress to "revive the Badge of Military Merit."
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/23391/2001872504646966990_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001872504646966990)
Charles Pelot Summerall. Chief of staff of the United States Army, 1926-1930. As CSA; directed the formation of a mechanized force and recommended an integrated mobile force of tank, artillery, engineer, and quartermaster elements. Retired from active service, March 1931. Was president of The Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina, 1931-1953; died in Washington, D.C., on 14 May 1955.
In 1931, Summerall's successor as CSA, General Douglas MacArthur*, took up the cause, hoping to reinstate the medal in time for the bicentennial of George Washington's birth. On February 22, 1932, Washington's 200th birthday, the U.S. War Department announced the creation of the "Order of the Purple Heart."
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/24648/2001846534069463784_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001846534069463784)
Douglas MacArthur as CSA. President Herbert Hoover appointed MacArthur Army Chief of Staff in November 1930. he served in that capacity until 1935. When the Commonwealth of the Philippines achieved semi-independent status in 1935, the country's president, Manuel L. Quezon, asked MacArthur to supervise the creation of a Philippine Army. As a general, MacArthur elected not to retire and remained on the active list as a major general and with Roosevelt's approval, MacArthur accepted the assignment. MacArthur had been friends with Quezon when his father was Governor General. MacArthur had two conditions for taking the job: both his salary and his housing was to be equal to that of the president. MacArthur was in the Phillippines when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941.
In addition to aspects of Washington's original design, the new Purple Heart also displays a bust of Washington and his coat of arms. The Order of the Purple Heart, the oldest American military decoration for military merit, is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy. It is also awarded to soldiers who have suffered maltreatment as prisoners of war.
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/22915/2001837248543746843_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001837248543746843)
Wounded soldier receiving her Purple Heart in a Combat Surgical Hospital (CASH) in Mosul, Iraq
As an aside, it has been said, the Purple Heart is the highest military decoration that no one wants to earn.
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/22915/2001850049403670866_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001850049403670866)
The Military Order of the Purple heart believes major highways are the ideal setting for a virtual memorial trail, and ultimately, the MOPH would like to see the entire Interstate Highway System, conceived by General Dwight D. Eisenhower during his tenure as President of the United States, designated as major portions of the Purple Heart Trail. Instructional kits have been developed and are in the hands of all Department Commanders on how to initiate necessary legislation in their respective states to implement the continued growth of the Purple Heart Trail System.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/23703/2001847792111174349_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001847792111174349)
The longest stretch of interstate that has been officially designated of the "Purple Heart Trail" by the states through which it passes is I-95 on the east coast. I-95 runs from Miami to Maine.
* The very same four-star general Douglas MacArthur who, eleven years later, would command American armies in the Pacific Theater during WWII, and, ten years after that, pull-off the incredible Inchon landing and salvation of the ROK during the Korean Conflict.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/24528/2001807470891028384_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001807470891028384)