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WASHINGTON — Inaugural organizers fielded a flurry of complaints on Wednesday from people who had tickets to see President Obama’s swearing-in, but who were left stranded in an underground traffic tunnel near the Capitol. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and chairwoman of the Congressional committee that handled the ticketing arrangements, said Wednesday that the Rules Committee would investigate the problems that kept thousands of ticket holders from seeing the event. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, in a statement on Wednesday, expressed regret that some ticket holders could not get to their sections, primarily in the standing-room area...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2008 – A policy change to expand eligibility for the Purple Heart award to prisoners of war who died in captivity represents the right decision that recognizes their sacrifice, a senior defense official told American Forces Press Service. The Pentagon announced the new policy earlier this week that will extend criteria for receiving Purple Hearts to prisoners of war who have died in captivity since the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. “The Purple Heart is an award worn with great pride and recognizes that the servicemember has been wounded or killed as a...

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 – With growing recognition of the toll post-traumatic stress disorder has taken on U.S. forces, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the Defense Department may consider awarding Purple Heart medals to combat veterans afflicted with it. “It’s an interesting idea,” Gates said when asked about the concept during a May 2 media availability at Red River Army Depot, Texas. “I think it is clearly something that needs to be looked at.” Gates’ comment followed his visit the previous day to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he toured the post’s Recovery and Resilience Center, which is using...

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry on Monday pinned the Purple Heart on Private First Class Sean Bannon in a pregame ceremony at the mound as Curt Schilling stood beside them. Bannon, 22, of Winthrop, Massachusetts, was critically wounded by an IED in Iraq. He has spent the last month at Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington, D.C. Bannon requested that Kerry, a fellow Purple Heart recipient, do the honors of presenting him with the medal and asked that the Senator ask the Red Sox if he would be able to receive the award at home plate. The Red Sox organization was...

China's Purple Army Made for Magic Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News April 10, 2007 — China's terracotta army, a mysterious collection of 8,000 life-size figures of warriors and horses found "ready for battle" in a 2017-year-old tomb, was painted in many colors, most distinctively bright purple. New research on the purple paint suggests it was due to Taoist experiments in creating fake jade, which was thought to bestow immortality. The discovery explains why the otherwise fierce army sports a springtime shade. It also suggests a religious link with the army and reveals how inventive China's early chemists were, even when they...

The earliest life on Earth might have been just as purple as it is green today, a scientist claims. Ancient microbes might have used a molecule other than chlorophyll to harness the Sun’s rays, one that gave the organisms a violet hue. Chlorophyll, the main photosynthetic pigment of plants, absorbs mainly blue and red wavelengths from the Sun and reflects green ones, and it is this reflected light that gives plants their leafy color. This fact puzzles some biologists because the sun transmits most of its energy in the green part of the visible spectrum. “Why would chlorophyll have this...

The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor opened in a Nov. 10 dedication ceremony at the New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site, where Gen. George Washington's Army camped toward the end of the Revolutionary War and where he first awarded the Badge of Military Merit, a small purple cloth that became the model for the Purple Heart. Photo by Author More Images VAILS GATE, N.Y. (Army News Service, Nov. 30, 2006) - The oldest U.S. combat medal has a new home of honor on a site where Americans first fought for freedom. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor opened...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 2, 2006) – Citing the long, proud tradition of sacrifice and valor of Americans in combat, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson yesterday awarded the Purple Heart to four servicemembers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. “Our freedoms, democratic traditions and American way of life rest on the shoulders of heroes who are willing to face extraordinary challenges and make astonishing acts of self-sacrifice,” Nicholson said. In a ceremony at the National Press Club, Nicholson presented the award to Pvt. Kevin Araujo of the 10th Mountain Division; Spec. Nicholas Helfferich of the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor,...

FORT HOOD, Texas (Army News Service, Aug. 8, 2006) – The Purple Heart Medal will have its own monument at the 1st Cavalry Division Museum at Fort Hood next month. The announcement came on Purple Heart Day, Aug. 7. In its 85-year history, thousands of First Team Soldiers have earned the Army’s oldest medal. Nearly 2,000 Purple Hearts were awarded during the division’s last rotation to Iraq. “This monument on the museum grounds will give units a nice, shaded area to hold ceremonies,” said Carrie Cutchens, a museum staff member and collection specialist. The monument is slated for dedication during...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2006 – A tradition that lasted a half century is being renewed on the shores of Lake Michigan. In the aftermath of World War II, Irv “Kup” Kupcinet, a columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, wanted to reach out to servicemembers to show his gratitude for their service to the country. Kupcinet would take patients from veterans hospitals to Lake Michigan for a day of food and fun, said Eric Schuller, senior policy advisor to Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. From 1945 to 1995, Kupcinet offered Purple Heart recipients the opportunity to spend a day on a...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, June 26, 2006 — Next time Sgt. Aaron C. Morgan marches in a parade with the 1st Marine Division Band, expect his uniform to look just a little different. Morgan, a bandsman assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, was awarded the Purple Heart Medal June 24. The percussionist from the 1st Marine Division Band was wounded while performing security operations for an explosive ordnance disposal team April 17. Morgan was the turret gunner in the lead vehicle of his convoy running down one of the more traveled roads in the area. It was late at night, the...

6/23/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- A sergeant severely wounded in action in Iraq received the Purple Heart Medal today, pinned on his chest by the Air Force chief of staff. Staff Sgt. Israel del Toro Jr. accepted the medal from Gen. T. Michael Moseley at a ceremony at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. More than 200 people attended the event, including family members. The sergeant, supported by family members, fellow controllers, A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots, Soldiers, an Airman Leadership School class and the hospital medical staff was at a loss for words because...

With all the talk about the former red state, Republican state, California, becoming a blue state -- which is not quite as true as some think -- there is someone talking about it becoming a purple state. That is California Republican Party chairman Duf Sundheim, who talked about his hopes for California during last week’s bus tour kicking off Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign against Democratic challenger Phil Angelides. The Silicon Valley lawyer came on a few years ago to put a moderate face on the party, whose apparatus was traditionally viewed as right wing and increasingly out of step...

Purple Heart Park in Southeast Tucson has a new monument to honor the park's namesake. The city has replaced the crumbling Purple Heart statue in the park on East Rita Road in the Rita Ranch community with a new monument honoring those killed or wounded in combat. The 12-foot-long brick monument, about 5 feet high, features a heart in the middle made of squares of purple glass, said Jim Conroy, the East District administrator of the Parks Department. He called the monument very well done. Mike Dyer, chaplain for the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart,...

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va., May 26, 2006 – A new version of a postage stamp commemorating the Purple Heart and all those who have earned it was issued in a ceremony here today. Officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Postal Service unveil the new version of the Purple Heart Definitive stamp at Arlington National Cemetery, May 26. Photo by Sgt. Sara Wood, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. During the ceremony, two veterans of the war in Iraq were awarded Purple Hearts by R. James Nicholson, secretary of Veterans Affairs. "(The Purple Heart) celebrates...

GULFPORT, Miss. (NNS) -- Commander, 1st Naval Construction Division Rear Adm. Robert L. Phillips presented five Seabees, currently serving with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133, with the Purple Heart medal here May 8. Steelworker 2nd Class Jody Allen, Construction Electrician 2nd Class Sean Sullivan, Steelworker 3rd Class Christopher Moran, Constructionman Cody Cannon and Constructionman Richard Fisher received the Purple Heart for injuries sustained while operating in and around Al Asad, Iraq, as part NMCB 133’s recent deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition to elected officials, family members and Seabees, guests at the ceremony included more than...

AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (May 8, 2006) -- Two Marines were awarded Purple Hearts May 1 for injuries received during an improvised explosive device attack in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. Staff Sgt. James N. Wheeler and Lance Cpl. Matthias E. Knudsen, both with the military police, sustained shrapnel injuries during an IED attack March 3, 2006. "We were out on an IED call," said Wheeler, referring to the unit who provides convoy security for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. "We were the lead vehicle and we received a stop call over the radio. We then hit a different IED...

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. (May 4, 2006) -- “I heard the whole thing. I knew what had happened, but I couldn’t believe that I was actually hearing it,” said St. Cloud, Minn. native, Sgt. Alan D. Lane. “It got black real quick. Not knowing what was going on, I got out of the vehicle. I couldn’t see hardly at all from my right eye and I had this ringing in my ears. I was just checking my body not really believing I was in one piece.” Lane, Marine Wing Support Squadron-272 explosive ordinance disposal technician, was awarded...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (May 2, 2006) -- The family of the fallen Marine, Cpl. Pablo V. Mayorga, of 2nd Tank Battalion, entered the funeral home with tears filling their eyes as they said their final goodbyes to their father, husband, son, brother and friend. Paola Mayorga, Pablo’s widow, was presented with the Purple Heart for the wounds that took her husband’s life. The posthumous award along with a memorial honoring the life of Mayorga brought family and friends together to share memories of the past and lay to rest a beloved friend. “His life was a celebration...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (UPI) -- A dancer for Minneapolis-based funk/rocker Prince was busted at the Rio de Janeiro Airport with 44 pounds of cocaine. Cecilia Maximilia was arrested Monday as she was waiting to board an Air France flight to Paris, the New York Daily News reported Friday. Her companion, Jennifer Salgnac, allegedly had three bags of drugs as well, the newspaper said. The cocaine was discovered under false bottoms in the ladies` luggage by airport X-ray equipment.