Today is annual Purple Heart Day, a time to commemorate the medal's origins and the more than 1.8 million Purple Heart recipients. To honor local combat wounded veterans,the City of Danbury will be installing three large reflective aluminum signs in Rogers Park that will display the City's seal, the Purple Heart medal and the wording "PURPLE HEART CITY".
Danbury was declared a Purple Heart City, the fourth in the state with the designation on August 7th, 2016.
Danbury resident Lee Teicholz who coordinated the effort to have the signs installed stated said it's fitting that these signs be placed in the vicinity of the war memorials and the Patrick R Waldron Veterans Hall to show Purple Heart recipients that their sacrifices are appreciated. Two reserved parking spaces for Purple Heart recipients have been installed at the Danbury War Memorial.
The Danbury War Memorial Association also donated the signs to the city.
In 1782, George Washington, then the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, created the Badge of Military Merit, today known as the Purple Heart medal. It represented Washington's respect and acknowledgement of veterans' combat valor. Today, more than 236 years later, the medal is the oldest U.S. military decoration still in use. The Purple Heart medal is a combat decoration that is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who are wounded by the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action.
