On August 7, 1792
The General, ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of military merit, directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over his left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding…
…and thus was born the oldest military honor in the United States, designed by George Washington to honor the ordinary, common soldiers. Calling it the Badge of Military Merit, this award would become today’s Purple Heart.
The medal was awarded to only three sergeants in the American Revolutionary War (William Brown, 5th Connecticut Regiment; Elijah Churchill, 2nd Regiment Light Dragoons; and Daniel Bessell, 2nd Connecticut Regiment). The original purple cloth recognized heroic action in combat and merit for performance of duties.
For 150 years, the medal was all but forgotten. Then during WWI, with the rising casualties, an organized hierarchy of valor and merit medals began to take form. Before that, only the Medal of Honor was awarded to soldiers and officers.
Congress created the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal. Then in 1932, Douglas MacArthur reintroduced the Purple Heart, to be given when wounded. In 1942, changes were made to include all branches of the services, not just the Army, and given to those who were killed in combat.
Today, no other military medal carries such a legacy and invokes stronger understanding of the price of freedom than the Purple Heart.
Audie Murphy was one of the most decorated combat soldiers of WWII. He received every military combat award for valor from the U.S. Army and France.
At 19, he received the Medal of Honor for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for one hour and then mounted a counterattack even though he was wounded and out of ammunition.
Born in Texas, Audie was the great-grandson of John and his third wife Hannah Berry, early settlers of Williamson County.