Video

Video by Amanda Stairrett

Retired officer talks about service on Purple Heart Day 2023

Army Emergency Relief

Aug. 5, 2023 | 0:36

Aug. 7 was Purple Heart Day and Army Emergency Relief is proud to honor those who were wounded while serving. One of those is retired Lt. Col. Walt Cooper, who was injured when deployed to Vietnam. Cooper served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1989 and currently works to educate the public and other Purple Heart recipients on the military decoration and what it represents through the Military Order of the Purple Heart, USA.

Cooper, a longtime contributor to and supporter of AER, was at George Washington's Mount Vernon on Aug. 5, 2023, for the annual Purple Heart Commemoration.

Mount Vernon was the estate of the decoration’s creator, Gen. George Washington, who established it in 1782 as the Badge of Military Merit. It was the first military award available to all ranks of service members. In taking from European military tradition, awards before then were only bestowed upon officers.