SENATOR RATH SEEKS LOCAL PURPLE HEART MEDAL RECIPIENTS

SENATOR RATH SEEKS LOCAL PURPLE HEART MEDAL RECIPIENTS FOR NATIONAL HALL OF HONOR

Athletes, actors and musicians have countless halls of fame and other venues to celebrate their accomplishments. Now, I am happy to report, heroes of a higher order will also have a hall in their honor. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is slated to open this November in New York’s historic Hudson Valley region.

The Purple Heart Medal has been awarded to nearly 2 million brave US military men and women who have been wounded or killed in combat. The Purple Heart Hall of Honor aims to preserve the extraordinary stories of all recipients, deceased or alive, through videotaped interviews, photos, letters and other mementos, as well as an Internet connection to classrooms and libraries.

The New Windsor Cantonment Historic Site in Vails Gate, Orange County, was designated by The Military Order of the Purple Heart to be the hall’s permanent site because of its historical significance: it was the final winter camp of Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army during the American Revolution. The purple cloth Badge of Merit that Gen. Washington presented to a select few of his troops was the inspiration for The Purple Heart Medal. The image of Washington was added to the color and shape of the Badge of Merit, and in 1932, the first new Purple Heart medals were given to 150 veterans of World War I on the same historic grounds in New Windsor, New York.

Do you know someone locally who has received a Purple Heart? I, along with the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, would like to help register all of the local heroic recipients of this military medal. For more information and assistance with registration, click here.  Let’s help ensure that future generations around the world learn of the significant sacrifices made by past generations in the name of liberty.

Very truly yours,

MARY LOU RATH
State Senator

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