Anchorage Assembly recognizes November as Purple Heart Month and lists help for recipients

The Anchorage Assembly passed a resolution Wednesday, Nov. 4, recognizing November as Purple Heart Month and honoring military personnel wounded or killed in combat with hostile forces.

The Assembly first designated Anchorage a Purple Heart City and November as Purple Heart Month on Nov. 5, 2019.

The Purple Heart is the nation's oldest military medal, the resolution says. George Washington established it in 1782 as the Badge of Military Merit. It was lost for 150 years and was reestablished as the modern Purple Heart in 1932. It is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are wounded or killed in combat, or who die from wounds received in combat.

The resolution lists services and recognitions for Anchorage recipients: free parking at EasyPark garages, free Purple Heart license plates, Paws for Purple Hearts and the Alaska Highway from Fairbanks to the Canadian border, a tribute highway that is part of the nationwide Purple Heart Trail. Paws for Purple Hearts trains service dogs at no cost for veterans with traumatic brain injury, PTSD or mobility challenges, according to the Alaska VA, and veterans do not need a Purple Heart to qualify.

No one knows exactly how many Purple Heart recipients live in Anchorage, the resolution says. Members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 593, all recipient veterans, volunteer to find and help recipients and their families.

Assembly Chair Anna Brawley, Vice Chair Daniel Volland, members Goecker, Johnson, Martinez, McCormick, Perez-Verdia and Silvers, and Mayor Suzanne LaFrance sponsored the measure.