Purple Heart recipients honored during banquet

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ashley Williamson
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

More than 70 local Purple Heart recipients were joined by family, friends, service members and volunteers to recognize their contributions and sacrifices to our nation at a banquet held in their honor, Aug. 5, 2016, at the First Pentecostal Holiness Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

The annual event honors veterans from Eastern North Carolina who have received the Purple Heart, representing every major conflict since World War II.

Charlie Thomas, a combat veteran was honored at the banquet for his service during the Vietnam conflict.

“I received the medal in 1969; I got shot,” said Thomas. “I was just fighting for the country, and I got wounded. It’s an honor what [the Purple Heart Dinner committee] is doing for us.”

The Purple Heart Medal, originally established on Aug. 7, 1782 by former President and Gen. George Washington as a badge of merit. Today, it is awarded to any member of the Armed Forces who is wounded or killed while serving in support of contingency operations.

“Since the very first [banquet], the impact has always been great for the community,” said Bill Graham, Wayne County Veterans and Patriots Coalition president. “It grows each year, and this, by far, is probably the largest one we’ve had. People keep calling and saying, ‘I want to get in. I want to be a part of it.’ ”

Before the dinner began, the Purple Heart recipients participated in a walk of honor through a saber cordon and received a gift bag containing a veteran hat, a mug and several other items as mementos of the event. For the recipients who could not join because they were prisoners of war or killed in action, a rose and gift bag was given to a family member who represented them.

A medley of each branch of service’s song was sung to honor the military members, who were invited to join in song, during the event.

“The names of all of our recipients are in here,” said Ilario Pantano, Programs and Services Institute for Veterans and Military Families senior director. “The names of the families that have sacrificed either POWs or fathers or husbands or sons lost as gold stars, as heroes. Can we just reflect on them? That’s why we’re here tonight: to reflect on them.”