Three Purple Hearts
In the waning days of the Revolutionary War, General George Washington faced a problem: after seven years of fighting, funding was running low, and his soldiers were exhausted. He decided to begin issuing an award that would recognize exemplary acts on the battlefield, writing that it would be for "not only instances of unusual gallantry, but also of extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way shall meet with a due reward."
He wrote on August 7th, 1782 that the badge would be in the "figure of a heart in purple cloth, or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding," and called it the "Badge of Military Merit". The award is known to have been issued to three soldiers: Sergeant Elijah Churchill of the 2nd Continental Dragoons; Sergeant William Brown of the 5th Connecticut Continental Line Infantry, and Sergeant Daniel Bissel of the 2nd Connecticut Continental Line Infantry.
While Washington had intended the award to be a permanent award, it was wasn't used again until the 1930s, while other awards, like the Medal of Honor, were issued instead. On February 22nd, 1932, the U.S. Congress reauthorized the award in conjunction with the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth.
This new award also came in the shape of a purple heart, and featured a profile of Washington. Where the first award was for extraordinary acts, this new version would honor soldiers who had been wounded in the line of duty, and would be retroactively awarded to the soldiers who fought in the First World War. It's been in use ever since.
The Vermont Historical Society holds three Purple Hearts in its collection.
One of those early recipients was Guy Hiram Boyce of Waitsfield, who fought in the First World War. Drafted in the spring of 1918, he was first assigned to the 304th Infantry Regiment and then to the 76th Infantry Division, which deployed to France in July. While there, The Waterbury Record reported in February 1919 that he was gassed on September 3rd and wounded on October 14th. The Barre Daily Times first reported his injuries on November 7th, saying that he "had been slightly wounded in active service," and updated its reporting in February 1919 that he had been "wounded severely." He returned home in April 1919.
Boyce would have been issued the Purple Heart after 1932. He passed away in 1973, and the medal was given to his nephew, Warren Maxwell Boyce, who gifted it to VHS in 1977.
Another recipient of the award was Louis Provost Peck of Montpelier, who served in the 17th Airborne Division during World War II. He fought in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and took part in Operation Varsity, an arial invasion in Germany that took place March 24th, 1945. It was during this operation that he was wounded: the glider he was in came under enemy fire, injuring his legs. He survived the crash, and while on the ground, he was hit by another glider.
Peck spent the next two and a half years in hospitals recording, and after he returned home from war, he studied to become a lawyer and held roles in the Vermont Attorney General's office before being appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court in 1981. He donated the medal to VHS in 1999, and passed away in 2008.
The third Purple Heart that VHS holds was awarded to Floyd A. Mitchell of Barre. Mitchell had graduated from Spaulding High School in 1920 and attended West Point before commissioning into the U.S. Army. When the Japanese launched its attacks against the United States in December 1941, Mitchell was a Lt. Colonel serving as an artillery officer on Corregidor in the Philippines.
The island came under attack by the Japanese military in December 1941, and the Mitchell was part of the contingent of US troops who surrendered in April 1942. Reports of Mitchell's capture came in December 1942, and in January 1945, word arrived that he had been killed on December 15th, 1944 when US planes attacked and sunk the ship he was on, unaware that it was transporting POWs. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star medals.