The Purple Heart

The original Purple Heart, designated as the Badge of Military Merit, was established by George Washington—then the commander in chief of the Continental Army—by order from his Newburgh, New York headquarters on August 07 .
The actual order includes the phrase, "Let it be known that he who wears the military order of the purple heart has given of his blood in the defense of his homeland and shall forever be revered by his fellow countrymen."
The Badge of Military Merit was only awarded to three Revolutionary War soldiers and fell into disuse following the War of Independence. Sgts. Daniel Bissel, William Brown and Elijah Churchill were awarded the first Purple Heart in recognition of their "unusual gallantry, extraordinary fidelity and essential service." It was a heart shaped patch made of purple cloth.
Although never abolished, the award of the badge was not proposed again officially until after World War I.
On 10 October 1927,Army Chief of Staff General Charles Summerall directed that a draft bill be sent to Congress "to revive the Badge of Military Merit". The bill was withdrawn and action on the case ceased on 03 January 1928, but the office of the Adjutant General was instructed to file all materials collected for possible future use. A number of private interests sought to have the medal re instituted in the Army. One of these was the board of directors of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum.
Before 1932, the Army and Navy needed distinctive insignia for soldiers or sailors who had been wounded during enemy actions. The United States took its cue from the British and French, and authorized a wound stripe. For each time an American was wounded, he was allowed to wear one gold bullion chevron, point down, on the cuff of his right sleeve.
On 07 January 1931, Summerall’s successor, General Douglas MacArthur, confidentially reopened work on a new design, involving the Washington Commission of Fine Arts. This new design was issued on the bicentennial of George Washington's birth. Elizabeth Will, an Army heraldic specialist in the Office of the Quartermaster General, was named to redesign the newly revived medal, which became known as the Purple Heart.
The Commission of Fine Arts solicited plaster models from three leading sculptors for the medal, selecting that of John Sinnock of the Philadelphia Mint in May 1931. By Executive Order, the Purple Heart was revived on the 200th Anniversary of George Washington's birth, out of respect to his memory and military achievements, by War Department General Orders No. 3, dated 22 February 1789.
The Purple Heart award is a heart-shaped medal within a gold border, 1 3⁄8 inches (35 mm) wide, containing a profile of General George Washington. Above the heart appears a shield of the coat of arms of George Washington (a white shield with two red bars and three red stars in chief) between sprays of green leaves.
The reverse consists of a raised bronze heart with the words FOR MILITARY MERIT below the coat of arms and leaves. The ribbon is 1 and 3⁄8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes: 1⁄8 inch white; 1 1⁄8 inches purple 67115; and 1⁄8 inch white.
As with other combat medals, multiple awards are denoted by award stars for the Navy,Marine corps, or Coast Guard, or oak leaf clusters for the Army and Air Force.
The criteria were announced in a War department circular dated 22 February 1932 and authorized award to soldiers, upon their request, who had been awarded the Meritorious Service Citation Certificate, Army Wound Ribbon, or were authorized to wear Wound Chevrons subsequent to 05 April 1917, the day before the United States entered World War I.
The first Purple Heart was awarded to MacArthur. During the early period of American involvement in World War II, the Purple Heart was awarded both for wounds received in action against the enemy and for meritorious performance of duty.
With the establishment of the Legion of Merit, by an Act of Congress, the practice of awarding the Purple Heart for meritorious service was discontinued.
By Executive Order 9277, dated 03 December 1942, the decoration was extended to be applicable to all services and the order required that regulations of the Services be uniform in application as far as practicable. This executive order also authorized the award only for wounds received.
Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, included provisions for posthumous award of the Purple Heart. Executive Order 12464, dated 23 February 1984, authorized award of the Purple Heart as a result of terrorist attacks or while serving as part of a peacekeeping force subsequent to 28 March 1973.
The Senate approved an amendment to the 1985 Defense Authorization Bill on 13 June 1985 which changed the precedence from immediately above the Good Conduct Medal to immediately above the Meritorious Service Medals. Public Law 99-145 authorized the award for wounds received as a result of friendly fire. Public Law 104-106 expanded the eligibility date, authorizing award of the Purple Heart to a former prisoner of war who was wounded before 25 April 1962.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (Public Law 105-85) changed the criteria to delete authorization for award of the Purple Heart Medal to any civilian national of the United States while serving under competent authority in any capacity with the Armed Forces. This change was effective 18 may 1998.
During World War II, nearly 500,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured in anticipation of the estimated casualties resulting from the planned Allied invasion of Japan.
To the present date, all the American military casualties of the sixty years following the end of World War II — including the Korean and Vietnam Wars — have not exceeded that number.
In 2003, there were still 120,000 of these Purple Heart medals in stock. There are so many in surplus that combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan and United States are able to keep Purple Hearts on-hand for immediate award to wounded soldiers on the field.
The "History" section of the November 2008 edition of National Geographic estimated the number of purple hearts given as below. Above the estimates, the text reads, "Any tally of Purple Hearts is an estimate. Awards are often given during conflict; records aren't always exact" (page 33).
World War II: 964,409
Korea: 136,936
Vietnam: 200,676
Persian Gulf: 590
Afghanistan: 2,743 (as of 8/21/2008)
Iraq: 33,923 (as of 8/21/2008)
The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 sets out penalties for people who falsely claim to have been awarded the Purple Heart. The Act states that any false verbal, written or physical claim, or selling of the Purple Heart Medal, by an individual to whom it has not been awarded, is a federal offense punishable by jail time and/or a fine