Sisters becomes a 'Purple Heart City'

Sisters was designated as a Purple Heart City with a proclamation adopted and read at the May 12 Sisters City Council meeting.

The Purple Heart is a United States military medal awarded in the name of the president to those military personnel wounded or killed while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The designation as a Purple Heart City signifies the City's honoring of almost two million veterans since World War I who have received the military decoration. The proclamation pronounces Sisters' appreciation for the sacrifices our Purple Heart recipients made in defending our freedom and the belief it is important to acknowledge them for their courage and show the honor and support they have earned.

Sisters joins about 14 other Oregon cities that have established themselves as Purple Heart Cities. Included in those are our Central Oregon neighbors of Madras, Redmond, Bend, La Pine and Prineville.

Local Sisters veterans were in attendance at City Hall and looked on proudly as Mayor Chris Frye read the proclamation. Purple Heart recipient and Sisters resident Pat Bowe spoke on behalf of the military veterans who live in Sisters. He talked about the significance of the Purple Heart medal and shared his feeling that the medal really represents the military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives for their country.

Bowe served two tours totaling 18 months in Vietnam as a paratrooper in the 173rd Airborne. In 1965 he was a 19-year-old who was part of the first combat jump on the Cambodian border. As a result of being "hit by shrapnel and a couple of grenades" during his first tour, Bowe received his first Purple Heart. They patched him up in the hospital in Vietnam and sent him back into battle.

His second Purple Heart came as a result of being ambushed and shot in the stomach. That wound meant a month in the hospital in Vietnam and another eight months stateside. He made a good recovery and was able to spend 33 years working in law-enforcement in the Willamette Valley.

Bowe came to Sisters six years ago and said, "I wish I had come 30 years ago. I love it here." He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and also has memberships in the American Legion, the Disabled American Vets, and the Purple Heart Society. Bowe drives the red pickup that pulls the veterans float in the Rodeo Parade and the Christmas Parade every year.

General George Washington commissioned the forerunner to the Purple Heart, the Badge of Military Merit, in 1782 and awarded it to three Revolutionary War soldiers. It was the first medal to be awarded to the ordinary soldier; previously that honor had been reserved for officers.

In 1931, on the 200th anniversary of Washington's birth, today's Purple Heart was created and made retroactive to April 5, 1917, the day before the United States entered World War I.

The medal itself is heart-shaped with a purple background surrounded by a border of gold with a bust profile of Washington on the front. Above the heart appears a shield of the coat-of-arms of Washington (a white shield with two horizontal red bars and three red stars) between sprays of green leaves. The reverse consists of a raised bronze heart with the words FOR MILITARY MERIT below the coat of arms and leaves. The ribbon from which the medal hangs is purple with narrow white stripes on either edge.