History and Heritage of the Purple Heart
Orlando Swinger
Senior Enlisted Academy
Class 200 Khaki
History and Heritage of the Purple Heart
Some Sailors wear their heart on their sleeve while others wear their heart on their chest. Senior Enlisted leaders must understand the significance of military awards because they tell the story of a Sailor’s achievements and sacrifices. This paper will cover the origin and the evolution of the Purple Heart award.
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The Purple Heart was created by General George Washington at Newburgh, New York on August. 7, 1782, during the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and was at first known as the "Badge of Military Merit" (Leary 2007). In conjunction with Washington 's design, the Badge of Merit was designed as a figure of a heart shape made of purple cloth or silk. General George Washington created the badge for enlisted and noncommissioned officers. Washington wanted to honor the ambitions of his Soldiers, as well as to encourage military merit in them. When a Soldier performed a meritorious action he was allowed to wear his badge over his left breast to signify the honor
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Not until February 22, 1932 the medal was brought back into use by the United States War Department. The Purple Heart has gone through many changes with respect to the criteria for being awarded. The Purple Heart was only awarded to Army and Army Air Corps Soldiers and was not awarded posthumously to the next of kin. “A change in the evolution of the Purple Heart was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s decision to offer the Navy Department the authority to award the decoration” (Borch). In that same year, the Purple Heart was made available for posthumous award to any member of the military killed on or after December 7, 1941. However, Marines and Sailors wounded prior to this date were still eligible to receive a Purple Heart upon submitting an