Purple Heart Day is celebrated every year on August 7th.
On Saturday, a Purple Heart Ceremony was held in honor of all the Purple Heart Recipients in the Coastal Bend area. The event kicked off at 10 am at Sherrill Veterans Park and featured the Veterans Band of Corpus Christi.
The ceremony is held the closest Saturday to Purple Heart Day. Purple Heart Day is to commemorate the current and former members of the US Armed Forces who were wounded and killed in action.
“it’s so important, because we are the ones that are under fire, we’re the ones that are decorated with an award that no one wants. Nobody asks for it. Nobody looks forward to it. Its an award that presented for your recognition for being under fire. And you have to be wounded under fire. Not injured. There's a difference," Ram Chavez, Purple Heart Recipient.
![A veteran watches the Purple Heart Ceremony](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7c9af64/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1006x566+0+0/resize/1006x566!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F38%2F6c%2F240a7e734a3bb3454d8730202dde%2Fscreenshot-2024-08-03-at-8-42-31-pm.png)
There are more events scheduled to commemorate National Purple Heart Day coming up this month. On August 10th non-profit military order of the Purple Heart Chapter 598 is inviting people to purchase tickets to its annual Hooks Game kicking off at 7 p.m.
There's also a Purple Heart workout planned on August 17th at the Crossfit Kohen starting at 9:30 AM. Veterans, active duty military and all who support the armed forces are invited to attend.