On Purple Heart Day, remember America is built on merit

Aug 07, 2024

Newt Gingrich Former House Speaker; Chairman of Gingrich 360

By Straight Arrow News

Aug. 7 is Purple Heart Day in the United States, a day intended to honor and commemorate the sacrifices of America’s military veterans and servicemembers. Purple Hearts are medals awarded to exemplary military veterans, often after being wounded in active service, though sometimes posthumously.

Since 1782, approximately 1.8 million Purple Hearts have been awarded, honoring veterans of every U.S. war since the Revolutionary War. Back then, the Purple Heart was called the Badge of Merit, and that original merit-based service award came from George Washington himself.

Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich discusses what the Purple Heart means to him and why he says it’s important for all Americans to reflect on the meaning of Purple Heart Day.

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The following is an excerpt from the above video:

But all of those Purple Hearts go back to 1780, go back to the then-Commander in Chief George Washington, and a very important concept, which is very American, which is that merit, courage, devotion, doing your duty, should be recognized. And people who live up to that should, in fact, be made important and made to feel important.

And I think that’s important because we need to get back to being a country based on merit. We need to get back to your country where doing your job well is recognized and rewarded. We need to get back to a country where when you go to school, we expect you to study, we expect you to attend and we expect you to learn.

This concept of merit, which is exactly what George Washington was trying to foster in the Revolutionary Army, is central to a healthy, free society. So on Purple Heart Day, remember, it isn’t just about those who’ve gotten wounded serving their country. It’s also originally the concept that when you have merit, when you go beyond your duty, when you stand firm, then you, in fact, deserve to be recognized. And that’s why George Washington created the Order of Merit.

August 7 is Purple Heart Day. Now today per board means you were wounded. And so people will automatically assume that that’s what Purple Heart Day cert refers to. But it actually refers to the date and 1782 when General George Washington, created the Order of Merit, President Washington, General Washington at the time, knew that you had to encourage people, that you had some people who risked their lives, who went above and beyond the call, who did their duty no matter what. And you wanted people to recognize that this was important that as you should stand out, the you should be rewarded and recognized. And so he created the Order of Merit, which literally was a Purple Heart, then it was a device you wore. And that’s where the term Purple Heart came from. Now, over time, Purple Hearts began to be given for being wounded. And, of course, in the long period of American conflicts, we have given out many, many Purple Hearts, because in our wars, we had many people wanted. And it became a symbol of somebody who had sacrificed to enrich their lives, who had done what they could to help America. But all of those purple hearts, go back to 1780, to go back to the then commander in chief, George Washington, and a very important concept, which is very American, which is that merit, courage, devotion, doing your duty, should be recognized. And people who live up to that should, in fact, be made important and made to feel important. And I think that’s important because we need to get back to being a country based on merit. We need to get back to your country, we’re doing your job well, is recognized and rewarded. We need to get back to a country where when you go to school, we expect you to study we expect you to attend, and we expect you to learn this concept of merit, which is exactly what George Washington was trying to foster in the Revolutionary Army is central to a healthy free society. So in Purple Heart Day, remember, it isn’t just about those who’ve gotten wounded, serving their country. It’s also originally the concept that when you have merit when you go beyond your duty, when you stand firm, then you, in fact, deserve to be recognized. And that’s why George Washington created the Order of Merit.