New Purple Heart Medals are finally being made - after 80 years!

[indianasmith]

The company that makes the medals for our military has finally gone through the vast stockpile of Purple Hearts that they created at the end of World War II.

All through Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the various wars of this century, our wounded vets were still receiving WW2-era medals created in anticipation of the horrific losses we would have sustained invading Japan.

Finally, in 2022, the stockpile dwindled down enough that new medals had to be struck.

Thank God for Harry Truman's decision to drop the bomb and end the war!  As many as the A-bombs killed, the military and civilian deaths on both sides would have been exponentially greater had the Allies conducted a conventional invasion of Japan.  The Japanese had already demonstrated that they would fight to the last man to defend a barren rock in the middle of the Pacific; how much harder would they have fought for their homeland?

My Dad was scheduled to be part of the second wave of that invasion; he was told his chances of surviving the campaign without being killed or wounded were about 1 in 132.  I always wondered about that statistic, but the sheer volume of Purple Hearts created would argue that the military, at least, believed it.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/05/14/decades-recipients-were-honored-purple-hearts-made-during-wwii-company-now-forges-new-medals.html

[chainsaw midget]

My dad received a purple heart in Vietnam. Decades later somebody sole it.  They stole other stuff to, but he mentioned this one quite a bit and not understanding why anyone would take it. 

Somehow, he got a replacement.  I don't know how or where it came from, but at some point after his purple heart was stole, I saw another one in his house years later. 

[Alex]

My dad received a purple heart in Vietnam. Decades later somebody sole it.  They stole other stuff to, but he mentioned this one quite a bit and not understanding why anyone would take it. 

Somehow, he got a replacement.  I don't know how or where it came from, but at some point after his purple heart was stole, I saw another one in his house years later. 

If you lose medalls for whatever reason you can apply to receive new ones, although you've normally got to pay for the replacement. I'd assume the US military is similar in that regard.

[lester1/2jr]

I should get one for posting here

[Zapranoth]

I should get one for posting here

We should get them for reading this kind of p**sy pity-gather.