The Purple Heart—The Medal My Father Didn’t Want

My father never wanted a Purple Heart and dodged attempts to pin one on him.  W.M. Murfin served as an Army Medical Corps officer in the Pacific during World War II.  That service included three amphibious landings under fire and front-line service with forward battalion aid stations.  While never seriously wounded he was injured three times including being cut up crawling over barbed wire and scrapes and abrasions rescuing seriously wounded soldiers under fire.  On one day of such rescues when his unit was cut off by the Japanese on Leyte in the Philippines he dragged several men to safety under machine gun fire.  That earned him the Bronze Star.  He was glad to receive that medal and after the War kept it in its presentation case along with another award he treasured—his Eagle Scout medal.

First Lieutenant W.M. Murfin, U.S. Army Medical Corps on Leyte in the Philippines in 1943.

But he dodged the Purple Heart despite repeated attempts to give him one.  He knew what they represented and what they were worth—as a Medical Corps officer he had handed out scores of them to the maimed men his unit treated.  He felt that his own minor bleeding did not match the suffering of those in his care.  He also felt, sometimes at least, that the medal was a trinket that was inadequate recompense for the pain and suffering.

The Purple Heart is said to be the oldest U.S, combat decoration which it is, sort of, but then again isn’t.  Let me explain.

During the Revolutionary War the Continental Army did not have formal awards for bravery.  This was due partly to concern for republican virtue—a rejection of the titles and decorations of European royalty and their military, and partly because no one knew exactly who could or should authorize such awards, Congress, the Commanding General, or even the states.  Besides, everyone was concerned by more pressing matters.

But in 1782 with the war slowly winding down after the defeat of Cornwallis’ army at Yorktown and as peace negotiations dragged on in Paris George Washington was faced with a restless—and mostly unpaid—army in his camp at Newberg, New York

The only formal recognition of bravery or distinguished service was a mention in official reports on engagements.  Most frequently officers were cited, non-commissioned officers and private soldiers only rarely.  Some time the citations were read aloud to units in assembly but even that was often overlooked.  

Just once, in 1780, Congress authorized the striking of a special medal designated at the Fidelity Medallion to honor three soldiers who were conspicuous in the capture of Major John André, the man who received Benedict Arnold’s traitorous offer to deliver West Point to the British.  But the three men, Privates John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart were New York militiamen not troops of the Continental Line.  The Fidelity Medallion was never awarded again and is thus considered a commemorative award rather than a regular military decoration.

George Washington's Revolutionary War cloth Badge of Military Merritt.

General Washington designed a cloth purple heart shaped patch that could be sewn on a uniform.  On August 7, 1782 he signed an order authorizing the award of a Badge of Military Merritt to specifically award the “common soldier” and was meant to recognize those who gave “loyal military service.” Washington personally cited three men—sergeants William Brown, Elijah Churchill, and Daniel Bissel who served as a spy.  All three were from Connecticut. Other commanders were authorized to make the award as well, but it is unclear if any did, or how many may have been granted before the Continental Army officially disbanded. Any records of such awards would have been kept in an Orderly Book which has never been found.

After the war the Badge of Military Merritt was never again awarded, although the honor was not officially abolished.  It simply was forgotten.  None-the-less, the boosters of the modern Purple Heart medal claim that it directly traces its origins to Washington’s 1782 order.  The claim is tenuous at best, but those who lobbied for the creation of the current medal identified it with the Badge and its design was based on the purple heart shape with a cameo of Washington added to bolster the connection.

Through the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and several Indian campaigns, the Army had no decoration for bravery.  With the coming of the Civil War there was a clamor for an award for heroism.  No one seemed to have thought to revive the Badge of Merritt.  At the outset of the war Commanding General Winfield Scott opposed the creation of a medal as an un-republican symbol of aristocracy and privilege.  After Scott retired late in 1861 Navy Secretary Gideon Wells requested authorization of a medal from Congress.  By 1862 separate legislation authorized a Medal of Honor for each service.

With no other awards available the Medal of Honor was soon handed out nearly wholesale.  In the Civil War alone 1,523 were awarded and before World War I another 767 were handed out for conflicts big, small, and obscure including the Indian Wars, Spanish-American Wars, Philippine Rebellion, Boxer Rebellion, and the occupation of Veracruz.  

By 1916 the Army became convinced that the Medal of Honor had become devalued by capricious awards.  After a report of a special Medal of Honor Review Board the Army rescinded 911 of the awards in 1917.  During World War I far fewer were awarded, but new medals were authorized for bravery below the level of “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.”  A number of new decorations were created for heroism in combat below the Medal of Honor including the Distinguished Service and Navy Crosses, Silver Star, and Bronze Star.  But the Badge of Merritt was not among them.

However nearly ten years after the war ended Army brass had second thoughts about being relatively stingy with medals during the Great War.  Army Chief of Staff General Charles Pelot Summerall proposed reviving the long defunct Badge of Merritt in 1928 but it died in Congress.  His successor General Douglas MacArthur with the support of private lobbying groups confidentially reopened work on a new design, involving the Washington Commission of Fine Arts and Elizabeth Will an Army heraldic specialist in the Office of the Quartermaster General.  By Executive Order of President Herbert Hoover in one of his final acts the award was revived on the 200th Anniversary of George Washington’s birth, amid considerable hoopla by War Department General Order No. 3, dated February 22, 1932.

The criteria for the new Purple Heart medal was broad—and retroactive.  Servicemen from April 5, 1917, the day before the U.S. entered the war were eligible upon their request if they had the Meritorious Service Citation Certificate, Army Wound Ribbon, or were authorized to wear Wound Chevrons on their uniforms.  The Service Citation was a given for “meritorious performance of duty” which could include combat but also other exceptional service.  Civilians serving with the military—Red Cross and YMCA volunteers for example were also eligible.

The first non-retroactive Purple Heart was awarded to General MacArthur not for wounds, but for his meritorious service during the defense of the Philippines.

In World War II many G.I.s were given their Purple Hearts by the staff of military hospitals.  This soldier seems happy to get his--perhaps because he received a "ticket home" wound.

Until early in World War II the same criteria were used for new awards.  By executive order in December 1942 the practice of awarding the Purple Heart for meritorious service was discontinued and the award limited to wounds suffered in combat.  Eligibility was extended to all armed services.  

During World War II, 1,506,000 Purple Heart medals were manufactured, many in anticipation of the estimated casualties resulting from the planned Allied invasion of Japan. By the end of the war, even accounting for medals lost, stolen or wasted, nearly 500,000 remained. More than 70 years later that cache of medals is still being used.  In 2000 more than 120,000 were in stock—plenty for new conflicts from Desert Storm to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  As in previous wars there were plenty on hand with combat units for immediate award to the wounded.  

Since World War II there have been several adjustments to eligibility including allowing for posthumous awards; excluding previously eligible civilians; including those wounded in terrorist attacks, or while serving as part of a peacekeeping force, and to former prisoners of war wounded after April 25, 1962.

U.S. Army Major General Carla G. Hawley-Bowland pins a Purple Heart medal on U.S. Army Medical Corps Sergeant Juan Roldan-Jaramillo during a ceremony at Walter Reed Medical Center in 2008. The Sergeant lost both of his legs from an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Iraq.

An accurate total of Purple Hearts awarded is impossible since a great many were presented without ceremony or documentation in war zones when the wounded were treated for their injuries.  In 2009 National Geographic estimated the following totals of Purple Hearts awarded by conflict. 

    World War I—320,518

    World War II—1,076,245

    Korean War—118,650

    Vietnam War—351,794

    Persian Gulf War—607 

    Afghanistan War—7,027 (as of June 5, 2010)

    Iraq War—35,321 (as of June 5, 2010)

Additional decorations have been awarded in numerous other operations among them the bombing of a Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983; the invasions of Granada and Panama; peace keeping activities in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993; the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War in 1999, and the Benghazi attack in Libya in 2012.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart has helped place scores of monuments like this one on the Square in Woodstock, Illinois

The Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) was chartered by Congress in 1932 and is restricted to veterans who have received the medal.  It currently has approximately 45,300 members.  The Order annually promotes Purple Heart Day on August 7, helps place Purple Heart monuments in many locations including Woodstock, Illinois, and assists returning lost medals to the recipients or their families. 

All honor to those who have received the Purple Heart.  But as Dad knew, it’s the medal no one wants to earn.