Aug. 7 (UPI) — National Purple Heart Day will be celebrated on the seventh day of August after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation making it so on Thursday.
The president was joined by many Purple Heart recipients and their families during a signing ceremony honoring the nation’s military personnel at the White House.
“We’re here to honor and celebrate the unyielding patriotism and grit and devotion to America’s Purple Heart veterans with emotion and great love,” Trump told the audience.
He said Gen. George Washington created the Purple Heart on Aug. 7, 1782, when he presented a purple ribbon shaped like a heart to each of three soldiers for their gallantry in battle.
“Just as George Washington did 243 years ago, today we give our everlasting thanks to you and your unbelievable families,” Trump said while referencing the dozens of Purple Heart recipients in the audience.
While Washington was the first to bestow a Purple Heart to soldiers, it remained a footnote in U.S. military history until Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the War Department officially created the Purple Heart as a badge for military merit in 1932.
The award was narrowed to one solely for those wounded or killed in combat in 1944, and nearly 1.9 million service members have received the honor.
Three of the nearly 100 wounded warriors who attended Thursday’s signing ceremony last year gave their Purple Heart medals to Trump after he survived being shot in his right ear by a would-be assassin during a campaign rally in Butler, Penn., on July 13, 2024.
Those veterans are Thomas Matteo, Gerald Enter Jr., and John Ford.
“What a great honor to get those Purple Hearts,” Trump said while thanking the three men.
“In a certain way, it wasn’t that easy for me, either,” he added,” but you went through a lot more than I did, and I appreciate it all very much.”
The president also honored his 2024 campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, who is a Marine Corps veteran and received a Purple Heart in 1991 while serving in the Gulf War.
Others mentioned during the signing ceremony include Kevin Willette and his son Brian Willette. Both he and his son received Purple Hearts while serving in Afghanistan.
Military specialist Kevin Brown also was honored for pulling Capt. Sam Brown from a Humvee that an explosive device had damaged.
Both men earned their Purple Hearts on that day, and the Senate last week confirmed Brown as the Military Affairs Department’s under-secretary for memorial affairs.
Trump said the Purple Heart “tells a story of courage, sacrifice and purpose” and “speaks of a price paid for the soldier beside you, the country behind you and the generations of Americans yet to come.”
He then signed the proclamation designating Aug. 7 as National Purple Heart Day.