Commissioners approved a proclamation this week declaring Polk County as a Purple Heart county in North Carolina and honored Purple Heart recipients.
Commissioners met Monday, June 16 and honored several Purple Heart recipients. The county heard from Mike Stubbs, commander, chapter 634, The Military Order of the Purple Heart, who gave information and pins to each commissioner.
Purple Heart recipients who were honored and present at the meeting included: Steve Zenes, U.S. Navy, Vietnam; Mike Moore, U.S. Army, Vietnam; Ron Wade, U.S. Army, Vietnam; Tom Farebrother, U.S. Navy, WWII; Jack Jolley, U.S. Army, WWII, Howard Greene, U.S. Army, WWII; Irwin Fletcher, U.S. Army, Korea. Stubbs is a Purple Heart recipient with the U.S. Army in Vietnam.
Stubbs said North Carolina has the third largest military population in the nation and is the only state with stations for each branch of the military.
For more information regarding the Military Order of the Purple Heart, visit www.purpleheart.org or www.moph634.org.
About the Military Order of the Purple Heart:
“The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of 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. It is specifically a combat decoration.
The organization now known as the “Military Order of the Purple Heart,” was formed in 1932 for the protection and mutual interest of all who have received the decoration. Composed exclusively of Purple Heart recipients, it is the only veterans service organization comprised strictly of “combat” veterans.
Funds for welfare, rehabilitation and/or service work carried on by the organization are derived through the collection of used household items, the operation of thrift stores, through the donation of automobiles and, at the community level, from the annual distribution of its official flower, the Purple Heart Viola. Violas are assembled by disabled and needy veterans, many of whom receive little or no compensation from other sources. Thus, your contribution to our programs serve are two-fold. First, they help the veterans who participate in these endeavors and, secondly, they enable the organization to do many things on behalf of hospitalized and needy veterans and their families.
Wives, mothers, daughters, step-daughters and adopted daughters of Purple Heart recipients are eligible to belong to the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which also does important work nationally and locally in veterans’ hospitals.” – www.purpleheart.org.