Purple Heart at Somme Cemetery - Bony, France
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N 49° 59.102 E 003° 12.791
31U E 515283 N 5536989
You will find this Purple Heart at the Somme Cemetery Visitor Center.
Waymark Code: WM16YQQ
Location: Hauts-de-France, France
Date Posted: 11/01/2022
Views: 3
The Purple Heart is located right next to the entrance of the visitor center.
About the Somme Cemetery
"The World War I Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in France is sited on a gentle slope typical of the open, rolling Picardie countryside. The 14.3-acre cemetery contains the graves of 1,844 of our military dead. Most lost their lives while serving in American units attached to British armies, or in operations near Cantigny. The headstones, set in regular rows, are separated into four plots by paths that intersect at the flagpole near the top of the slope. The longer axis leads to the chapel at the eastern end of the cemetery.
A massive bronze door surmounted by an American eagle leads into the chapel, whose outer walls contain sculptured pieces of military equipment. Once inside, light from a cross-shaped crystal window above the marble altar bathes the subdued interior with light. The walls bear the names of 333 of the missing. A rosette marks the name of the soldier listed on the Walls of the Missing that has since been recovered and identified."
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About the Purple Heart
"The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members.
The Purple Heart award is a heart-shaped medal within a gold border, 1+3/8 inches (35 mm) wide, containing a profile of General George Washington. Above the heart appears a shield of the coat of arms of George Washington (a white shield with two red bars and three red stars in chief) between sprays of green leaves. The reverse consists of a raised bronze heart with the words FOR MILITARY MERIT below the coat of arms and leaves."
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