Each year, National Purple Heart Day is held on Aug. 7 during Purple Heart Month.

The Purple Heart medal is presented to any member of the U.S. Armed Forces who has been wounded or died from wounds suffered in any action against an enemy of the United States.

The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor estimates that an estimated 1.8 million Purple Hearts have been awarded throughout history. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has 31 Purple Heart recipients.

In 1782, President George Washington created the original Purple Heart, which was known as the Badge of Military Merit. It was a cloth badge in the shape of a heart with the word “merit.” He awarded it to three Revolutionary War soldiers.

3 Takeaways:

• The SRPMIC Veterans Services Office recognized National Purple Heart Day on Aug. 7 with an information series about the history of the Purple Heart.
• The SRPMIC has 31 Purple Heart recipients.
• The first Purple Heart award was given by President George Washington. It was known at the time as the Badge of Military Merit.

The award was not presented to anyone again until 1932. A few years earlier, the Army had begun efforts to revive the award. In 1931, General Douglas MacArthur restarted work to redesign it as a medal, working with the Washington Commission of Fine Arts and a heraldic specialist, keeping the badge’s original heart shape and purple color while adding a profile bust of George Washington. It was President Herbert Hoover who officially reauthorized the Purple Heart on February 22, 1932, in honor of Washington’s 200th birthday.

The SRPMIC Veterans Services Office recognized Purple Heart Day by inviting Community members and employees to three Purple Heart information sessions on Aug. 7 in the Round House’s Café Nyaa meeting room, where Purple Heart recipient Charles “Chuck” Byers, vice-chair of the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services Advisory Commission, talked at length about the history of the Purple Heart.

Byers was National Legislative Director in 2022 when the SRPMIC was designated a Purple Heart Community. He was present at the USS Arizona Memorial Gardens at Salt River for the official ceremony and unveiling of the first Purple Heart Community sign.

“[It was] great to be here in 2022 for the dedication, and to come back out here and talk about the Purple Heart and what it means,” said Byers. “There is such a huge history that we can present that a lot of people don’t know. They know maybe their grandfather or uncle received a Purple Heart, but they really don’t know much about it. A lot of times, a lot of the veterans don’t talk about their Purple Heart. That’s why it’s important to talk about it and where it came from. It’s the oldest (military) decoration out there.”

Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society member Ron Capek, former finance officer for Chapter 691 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, also spoke about the award. The two took turns passing around examples of a Purple Heart medal during each session. Veteran’s representative Troy Truax Jr. presented information about where you can find the different “Welcome Purple Heart Community” signs throughout the Community.