The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor marked its 10th anniversary on Thursday, but the celebration was reserved for Saturday to accommodate guests who work during the week.
On Nov. 12, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., special tours will be given providing an in-depth look at how the museum came to be and how it’s evolved over the last decade. Birthday cake will be served at noon.
“A lot of times you come to a facility, things are there and you enjoy them, but you may not know how that happened, what are some of these things, why are they this way,” said Peter Bedrossian, program director. “It can be fun to give inside information and background to people who normally wouldn’t have that unless they asked specific questions.”
In 1995, Cornwall resident Patric Morrison wrote a letter to the editor after seeing an article about a Purple Heart memorial proposed to be built in Connecticut. In his letter, he urged a Purple Heart memorial or museum be built in the Newburgh-New Windsor area where General George Washington originally created the “Badge of Merit,” the inspiration for the Purple Heart.
Four men, including Morrison, Senator William Larkin, Lt. Gen. James D. Hughes, and Joe Farina, a veteran from New Windsor, got together to form “The Genesis Group,” working together to secure funding and get the museum built.
Where to construct the museum came down to two sites, the current location or adjacent to Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh. The New Windsor site was chosen because of its tangible connection to the modern Purple Heart, which was created on Feb. 22, 1932 – Washington’s 200th birthday.
On that date, Bedrossian said, a large public ceremony was held on the grounds of the current location, recognizing 137 local World War I veterans and awarding them the Purple Heart.
When the Hall of Honor opened, the structure housed more than 12,000 stories of sacrifice from WWII, the Koran War, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. On its rolls were the names of 300,000 of the 1.7 million men who had been awarded the Purple Heart.
The museum now contains a list of recipients representing all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, Samoa, Philippines, and one lone Australian. It also represents conflicts from the American Civil War to Afghanistan.
In 2015, the entire facility was remodeled so it would represent all five branches of the military. The museum heavily favored the ground forces, but now the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard are represented.
After a decade, the museum does more than just recognize those who were injured or killed in battle.
“It’s a place of validation, it’s a place of safety, it’s a place of recognition,” said Bedrossian. “It’s a place which recognizes the sacrifices and allows [recipients] to tell those stories which recognize them as a warrior.”
