Chris Roark, croark@cherryroad.com
The city of Waxahachie’s support for veterans will shine even more brightly now.
Monday, Mayor Billie Wallace read a proclamation on behalf of the City Council that officially designates Waxahachie as a Purple Heart City.
The designation is public awareness program that highlights those who have received a Purple Heart medal – those who have been killed or injured in combat while protecting this country.
Deputy City Manager Albert Lawrence pitched the idea of the city becoming a Purple Heart City. Laurie Mosley, director of the city’s convention and visitors bureau, and her team then worked with the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) Chapter 1513 to bring this designation to Waxahachie.
For a city to become a Purple Heart City a council must read a proclamation, which is then presented to the local MOPH.
Five Purple Heart recipients attended Monday’s ceremony, which included a reception, the release of military pigeons at the Ellis County Veterans Memorial and the official reading of the proclamation during the City Council meeting.
“We’re honored as a council to be able to present the proclamation that makes Waxahachie a Purple Heart City,” Wallace said after the reading. “It’s huge, and it’s important.”
The city also received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congressman Jake Ellzey’s office.
The city has ordered 10 signs signifying the designation, and they will be placed at various entry points and key locations in the city.
The Purple Heart
Lisa Holmes-Lunkwicz, associate member of the MOPH Chapter 1513, discussed the importance of the Purple Heart during the presentation.
The Purple Heart is the oldest of the country’s military medals bestowed on the common soldier, first awarded as the Badge of Military Merit by Gen. George Washington in 1782.
The Purple Heart is awarded to those who fall in battle and who are wounded in war by the hands of the country’s enemy.
The number of U.S. soldiers killed or wounded in World War I prompted the U.S. Government to revive the Purple Heart Award. Then in 1958 the Military Order of the Purple Heart organization was congressionally chartered.
Every Patriot member of the organization is a Purple Heart recipient. Family members can attend meetings and events but only as an associate member.
Holmes-Lunkwicz said meeting a Purple Heart recipient is rare. She said of the 1.9 million Purple Heart medal recipients since World War I, almost half are the ones who didn’t return home.
She said approximately 250,000 are still living in the United States and that the majority of America’s living recipients served in Vietnam.
Holmes-Lunkwicz said 20 percent of the country’s living recipients of the Purple Heart live in Texas.
“If you meet one Purple Heart Recipient over your lifetime it is very rare,” Holmes-Lunkwicz said.
There are approximately 110 cities in Texas that have the Purple Heart City designation. There are also approximately 30 colleges, 60 counties, including Ellis, and multiple other entities with Purple Heart designations as well.
Holmes-Lunkwicz said Purple Heart Cities are placed on a register called the National Purple Heart Trail.
“It is a covenant between the city and the Military Order of the Purple Heart, communicating not only to the Purple Heart recipient but to bring healing and encouragement to all veterans in the community who served alongside the wounded and saw friends die in battle,” Holmes-Lunkwicz said. “It helps to lift up the military family members and publicly states that the city is steadfast in supporting all veterans, honoring the sacrifice of America’s combat wounded and war dead and will forever cherish these veterans and their families.”
The register and other information can be found at purpleheart.org.
Special recognition
There were five Purple Heart recipients who attended Monday’s ceremony: Gus Wittschack, Region V commander of MOPH; John Footman, past MOPH Department of Texas commander; Eric Newton, MOPH Department of Texas junior vice commander and MOPH DFW Mid-Cities Chapter 1513 senior vice commander; Eric Walter, MOPH DFW Mid-Cities Chapter 1513 junior vice commander; and Larry Kellogg, patriot member of MOPH DFW Mid-Cities Chapter 1513.
All of them came from out of town to participate in the ceremony. Wittschack said it’s important when a city strives to become a Purple Heart City.
“It honors all the veterans from all the wars,” said Wittschack, who served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1967 to 1972. He was injured in 1967 near the Cambodia border. “It shows that Waxahachie loves its veterans.”
Newton served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 under Col. George S. Patton, the son of World War II hero Gen. George S. Patton.
Newton, who was a tank commander for the U.S. Army when he was injured, said the Purple Heart City designation provides a sense of welcome for veterans.
“It creates a recognition and an appreciation for the veterans,” Newton said. “Anytime a veteran passes through the city and sees these signs they feel like they have been welcomed to the city. And it’s a good place for them to think about living there, moving there or opening their business.”
Like many Purple Heart recipients, Newton often travels to other cities when they receive the designation.
“As I travel throughout this great state and country I find that it’s the small towns that have kept the traditional good values of supporting their neighbors, their first responders and their military,” Newton said. “A prime example of this is on display here today thanks to the great leaders of Waxahachie. A city where good values still exist and their leadership truly cares about their citizens.”
Kellogg was a medic in the 25th infantry division in the U.S. Army. He was injured July 7, 1967 in Vietnam.
“To see the city of Waxahachie go out and support Purple Heart recipients and support the military people in general is very meaningful to me,” Kellogg said. “You have that plaque that they’ll display in the city that says Purple Heart recipient. You drive by it and don’t think much of it, but those who know, it’s very meaningful. The people in Waxahachie, that’s why we did what we did.”
A history of recognition
Waxahachie has long honored the service and sacrifices of veterans.
Each year in November a large Veterans Day ceremony takes place at the Waxahachie Civic Center. Most recently it has been organized by the Heroes Services Coalition.
Two years ago the ceremony included the unveiling of the 6.5-foot, bronze In the Hide statue in honor of former U.S. chief petty officer and Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.
The community gathers each year at the Ellis County Veterans Memorial, outside the civic center, for a Memorial Day ceremony, organized by Woodmen Life Chapter 46.
Veterans are also treated to breakfast on July 4 before the annual Fourth of July Parade, where veterans are the guest of honor.
Monday’s ceremony was just one more way Waxahachie shows its support for veterans.
“It’s more than a proclamation but a promise,” said Master Sgt./USMC (Ret.) Robert Bell of the Heroes Services Coalition. “A promise that our community will always remember the sacrifices of those who were wounded or killed in action. The Purple Heart represents pain, sacrifice and valor, and it’s awarded to those who stepped into danger and whose wounds mark their dedication to all of us.”
