AUGUST 6, 2025 – Tomorrow is Purple Heart Day, a time to honor and remember service members who were wounded or killed by an instrument of war in the hands of an enemy or while prisoners of war.
The following are a few stories of the nearly 2 million who were awarded the medal.
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller was wounded Nov. 8, 1942, during the Battle of Koli Point, a significant engagement of the Guadalcanal Campaign in the South Pacific. He was wounded in the arm and leg during a Japanese attack on his command post. Puller is the most decorated Marine in U.S. history, having been awarded five Navy Crosses, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with Valor, the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, and three Air Medals.
He fought in Haiti, Nicaragua, World War II and the Korean War.
James King Aurness was severely wounded in the right leg during the Battle of Anzio in Italy in 1944. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1945 and suffered chronic leg pain throughout his life.
Most people know Aurness better as actor James Arness, who portrayed Marshal Matt Dillon in the TV series “Gunsmoke,” which aired from 1955 to 1975.
Charles Dennis Buchinsky joined the Army Air Forces in 1943. He served as a B-29 Superfortress aerial gunner with the Guam-based 61st Bombardment Squadron, which conducted missions against the Japanese home islands. He flew 25 missions and received a Purple Heart in 1945.
Buchinsky is better known as actor Charles Bronson, who starred in many films, including “Machine-Gun Kelly” (1958), “The Magnificent Seven” (1960), “The Great Escape” (1963) and “The Dirty Dozen” (1967).
Screenwriter and director Oliver Stone, whose work includes “Platoon” (1986), “Wall Street” (1987), “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), “The Doors” (1991), “JFK” (1991) and “Nixon” (1995), served in the Army and deployed to South Vietnam from 1967 to 1968.
He was wounded twice, and those wartime experiences would shape some of his later films.
Rocky Bleier was an NFL halfback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1968 and from 1970 to 1980, playing on four winning Super Bowl teams: 1975, 1976, 1979 and 1980.
Bleier also served as a soldier in South Vietnam. On Aug. 20, 1969, while on patrol in Hiep Duc, he was wounded in the left thigh by an enemy rifle round when his platoon was ambushed in a rice paddy. While he was down, an enemy grenade landed nearby after bouncing off a fellow soldier, sending shrapnel into his lower right leg and causing Bleier to lose part of his right foot in the blast. He was later awarded the Bronze Star with Valor and the Purple Heart.
Although intended for service members, a few animals have received it throughout history. Staff Sergeant Reckless, a war horse that served with the 5th Marine Regiment during the Korean War, received the Purple Heart twice for wounds she sustained in combat.
The purple color of the medal and the heart represent the bloodshed, and the medal features a bust of George Washington, the nation’s first president and the general who led American forces against the British in the Revolutionary War.
Although Purple Heart Day is not a federal holiday, various observances are held at all levels of government. Veteran and military organizations hold special events to thank Purple Heart recipients for their service and sacrifice.
Also, MLB teams pay homage to their local Purple Heart recipients during special pregame and seventh inning stretch ceremonies.
By David Vergun, DOD News