Photo: American Legion, legion.org

Holidays associated with the U.S. Military seem to mark passages of times.

Memorial Day, for example, is recognized more as the first official holiday of summer than a day for honoring those who have fallen in combat.

Independence Day, which would have been lost to American history had U.S. forces, led by Gen. George Washington, in conjunction with French allies, not defeated the British at Yorktown, in 1781. While remembered as the commander of U.S. military forces during the revolution, and as the first U.S. president, Washington is less remembered for his Aug. 7, 1782, creation of three new military badges, including the Badge of Military Merit.

In his Aug. 7 General Orders, Washington wrote:

“The General ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of Military merit, directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth, or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding.”

Washington, by this order, had established an official policy of formal recognition for heroic contributions of regular soldiers, rather than solely recognizing meritorious conduct of officers.

In 1932, the Badge of Military Merit was redesigned and recommissioned by General Douglas MacArthur and is now known as the Purple Heart Medal.

While MacArthur is said to have chosen 1932 to recommission the medal in honor of Washington’s bicentennial birthday, this statement needs some clarification.

While Washington was indeed born in 1732, he was born on February 22. While he was born during the month of February, he originally commissioned the medal on Aug. 7. In selecting Aug. 7, 1932 as the commission date for the Purple Heart Medal, MacArthur honored both the year Washington was born, and the date on which he commissioned the badge.

It is claimed to be the oldest military award, first being awarded to soldiers in World War I. That creates confusion, however, because the United States first entered combat in the World War I in the spring of 1918, 14 years before the medal was commissioned. By either year, the Medal of Honor is still older, the first Medal of Honor having been awarded on Feb. 13, 1861.

If the precursor of the Purple Heart Medal, the Badge of Military Merit, is considered in the history of military awards, however, the first recipients of that award were Sgt. William Brown, of the 5th Connecticut Regiment, and Sgt. Elijah Churchill of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, both of whom received the award on May 3, 1783, while a month later, Sgt. Daniel Bissell, of the same regiment as Brown, was awarded the Badge on June 10, still making the Badge of Military Merit, as the forerunner of the Purple Heart Badge, the oldest military award.

According to the Purple Heart Foundation, a presidential order signed in 1942 permitted the Purple Heart Medal to be awarded to all branches of the military including the U.S. Coast Guard. It was World War II, when the qualification to receive the Purple Heart Medal changed to honor those who were wounded or killed in combat – that is why its recipients often call it “the medal that nobody wants.”

The Military Order of the Purple Heart was also formed in 1932, and it is the only Veterans Service Organization whose membership comprised solely of veterans who were wounded in the service of their country.

In his Tuesday address, Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Robert Olivarez said, in part:

“The Purple Heart is more than just a medal – it is a symbol of strength, courage and honor. It represents the unwavering dedication of our servicemen and women to the values and principles that make our nation great. It is a testament to their unwavering commitment to duty, honor and country.”

On this National Purple Heart Day, Olivarez continued, let us reaffirm our commitment to honoring the sacrifices of our military members and their families.