PDA

View Full Version : Purple Heart monument unveiled at Parris Island



thedrifter
08-14-08, 07:51 AM
Purple Heart monument unveiled at Parris Island
Published Thu, Aug 14, 2008 12:00 AM

By PATRICK DONOHUE
pdonohue@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5531

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island paused Wednesday to pay homage to those who've sacrificed their bodies -- and too often their lives -- to defend America and its ideals.

The depot, with the help of Beaufort's chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, unveiled its new Purple Heart Memorial during a ceremony at the Recruit Chapel. The Purple Heart is awarded to U.S. servicemen killed or wounded in combat.

The memorial, standing more than five feet tall and made of black granite, bears the image of the medal itself, along with an excerpt from James Babbington Macaulay's poem "Horatius." It sits immediately adjacent to a monument honoring the depot's drill instructors along Boulevard de France,near the parade deck.

Capt. Omar Adame,a two-time Purple Heart recipient, said the memorial will serve as a daily reminder to both recruits and active-duty Marines of the sacrifices made by a few in the defense of many.

"This is the gateway for the Marine Corps," he said. "We have thousands of recruits that come through here and they have family members who have served .. and as they come through here and see the parade deck, they can see a monument dedicated to people who they may have known and were lost in combat, or they, themselves, may even be Purple Heart recipients."

Adame, with Parris Island's 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, earned his Purple Hearts for combat injuries suffered during the assault on Fallujah in 2004 and for wounds sustained in Iraq in 2006.

Though the nation's oldest military honor, no one sets out to receive the Purple Heart, said retired Marine Col. Robert L. Mastrion,a two-time recipient of the award, which was first awarded by Gen. George Washington in 1782.The medal was not awarded again until 1932.

"I always get a kick when people see the lapel pin and say, 'You won the Purple Heart.' I have to explain to them that I don't know anyone who's got one (a Purple Heart) that considers themselves a winner," Mastrion joked. "The Purple Heart is an award that everyone honors, but no one really wants. By its very nature, it's an award that you earn at great cost and great suffering."

Mastrion, ofMount Pleasant, said that while the Purple Heart is not as prestigious as the Congressional Medal of Honor or the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the men who receive it are owed for their contribution to the spread of democracy worldwide.

"(Purple Heart recipients) aren't the guys with the big medals or the guys running for politics, they're the guy running a gas station and driving a truck," he said. "The world does not shower adulation upon most of the holders of the Purple Heart, but there is a satisfaction of knowing that, in the big picture, that you contributed to the forward progress of democracy."

Upwards of 85 active-duty Marines stationed at Parris Island have received the Purple Heart, said retired Army Col. Charles Stockell of the Beaufort chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Stockell, a four-time Purple Heart recipient, said the Beaufort chapter has more than 60 members.
The inscription on the Purple Heart Memorial reads: "How can man die better, Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods." -- James Babbington Macaulay, "Horatius" 1842

Video

http://www2.beaufortgazette.com/node/22064

Ellie

thedrifter
08-15-08, 07:31 AM
Marines honor Purple Heart recipients
By Pamela E. Walck
Created 2008-08-13 23:30

PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. - Many came aided by walkers and canes.

Some carried war decorations on their sports coats. Their left breasts were covered in medals like badges of courage - evidence of the warriors trapped inside bodies weakened by time.

Others swaggered into the Recruit Chapel wearing black leather vests decorated with patches honoring shunned warriors, forgotten battlefields.

Still others came in smartly tucked uniforms, their battle days as fresh as the commemorative ink pumped into their forearms.

Iwo Jima.

First Chinese Counter Offensive of 1951.

Fallujah.

Many found themselves among the military's elite - positions they didn't seek. All were members of a brotherhood that crosses U.S. armed forces lines as recipients of the Purple Heart.

Despite heavy rain Wednesday morning, each came to help dedicate a new memorial at Parris Island to honor fellow recipients, living and dead.

"We need more of these monuments all over," said Steve Illes, a retired U.S. Marine Corps captain who served in Korea, Lebanon, the Dominican Republic and Vietnam. "It's important for the American public to recognize the numbers and what the Purple Heart means.

"Our country is free, but freedom isn't free because of the blood that was shed."

Those who live to talk about it say receiving a Purple Heart isn't something anyone seeks - especially on the battlefield.

"I always get a big kick out of (people) who see my lapel pin and say, 'Oh, you won the Purple Heart,'" said retired Col. Robert Mastrion during his keynote remarks. "I don't know anyone who sees themselves as 'winners' for getting a Purple Heart. For me, it was more like wrong place, wrong time.

"It's easy to get shot. Getting better is what hurts."

Mastrion and the 150 people attending the ceremony were forced to take cover inside the base chapel, located across the street from the parade field - where the new marble monument stands as a reminder to recruits and future Marines.

After placing a wreath next to a projected image of the monument inside the chapel, a small gathering crossed the rainy street to watch as retired Col. Charles W. Stockell pulled at a crimson cloth to reveal the marble cenotaph.

"This is by far the best location here on Parris Island," said Stockell, who served as master of ceremonies. "We were pleased when the general agreed to it."

Stockell said it took the better part of a year to find a suitable location for the monument, which was placed there by the Beaufort Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

In that time, the Beaufort chapter also persuaded states from Maine to Florida to dedicate Interstate 95 in honor of the nation's medal recipients.

Some Marines attending the ceremony had been decorated multiple times.

"If you think about it, it's a great place because it's where Marines start," said Cpl. Richard Davis, stationed at Parris Island with the Headquarters and Service Battalion. "It all goes back to the beginning."

For Davis, the wounds of war are still fresh.

He enlisted on Sept. 11, 2003. Two years later, Davis was in Fallujah, Iraq, with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division.

By 2006, the Marine had been awarded two Purple Hearts - one for taking shrapnel in the leg and back after an improvised explosive device detonated along the roadside. The other was for injuries he suffered during a rocket-propelled grenade attack by insurgents.

"It's exactly like what they say," Davis said. "The Purple Heart is the medal everyone wants but doesn't want to earn."

Ellie