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Volunteers poured the concrete pad for a Purple Heart Memorial being constructed at West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. The monument will be placed near the pavilion at the back of the cemetery, across from a POW/MIA monument and ash garden already in place. Modeled after a monument erected early last year in Hilo, the 3,000-pound India red granite monument pays tribute to recipients of the Purple Heart.
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after April 5, 1917. It was preceded by the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth.