The Purple Heart can be bought. Not the honor — which is earned only if one is killed or wounded in battle — but the medal itself. You can buy one at the MacDill AFB store, packaged in a cardboard-and-cellophane box about the size of a deck of cards and placed among rows of other medals like a display at Wal-Mart.
It costs $32.
But it's not as if a wounded soldier heads down to the BX and purchases his own Purple Heart. Ed Sitton, state commander of the Department of Florida Military Order of the Purple Heart, explains that the medals are given to soldiers, usually pinned on by a commanding officer, and presentations can take place in the hospital, at morning muster or even during a break from battle. For those killed in action, the Purple Heart is presented to the next of kin. The U.S. military pays for this medal. Extras can be bought for framing or pinning on dress uniforms.
The medal, 1-3/8 inches wide, consists of a purple heart with a gold-plated border, inside of which is a profile of George Washington. Above the heart appears a shield of the Washington Coat of Arms, whose stars and stripes are said to have inspired the design of the American flag. The reverse consists of a raised bronze heart with the inscription "For Military Merit."
The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration still in use and the first award made available to non-officers. George Washington instituted it during the Revolutionary War, because he wanted to honor enlisted men and non-commissioned officers. In its first incarnation, it was the figure of a heart in purple silk or cloth, edged with narrow lace or binding, sewn onto the uniform's left breast. Originally called the Badge of Military Merit, it was awarded for "any singularly meritorious action," and did not require the warrior to be killed or wounded. Washington chose purple because it connoted royalty.
The Purple Heart lay dormant until the U.S. War Department revived it in 1932. Elizabeth Will of the Quartermaster General's office designed the new version and John R. Sinnick of the Philadelphia Mint made a plaster model of it. The Purple Heart was awarded retroactively to anyone killed or wounded in battle as far back as WWI.
Purple Heart awardees can wear their medal at formal ceremonies. For this purpose, a smaller version is available at the MacDill store — for $11.50. "If you have someone with a lot of medals, they can get pretty heavy," Sitton says. "That's why they have an alternative smaller one, which is mounted with the other medals miniature-style."
There is one other way for military personnel to display Purple Hearts. They can sew a small, purple-and-white rectangular "ribbon" on their everyday uniforms. These cost 60 cents.
—ERIC SNIDER
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2004.