Combat Wounded Parking Spaces Receive Makeover For Purple Heart Day

The Combat Wounded Parking Spaces at the Danbury War Memorial received a makeover with a fresh coat of purple paint. In addition, a stencil displaying the Purple Heart symbol with the words COMBAT WOUNDED was sprayed in white over the purple paint. The City of Danbury Veterans Affairs Office purchased the specialty thermoplastic stencil from Stencil Plus, which specializes in road and parking lot markings.

Purple Heart Day takes place annually on August 7th to commemorate the medals origins and the more than 1.8 million combat-wounded Purple Heart recipients. In 1782, George Washington, then the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, created the Badge of Military Merit, today known as the Purple Heart medal. It represented Washington’s respect and acknowledgement of veterans’ combat valor. Today, more than 240 years later, the medal is the oldest U.S. military decoration still in use.

Danbury resident Lee Teicholz, who initiated the project and volunteers his time maintaining the spaces, said that besides providing parking for our combat wounded veterans, the spaces are a constant visual reminder to those who walk by of the sacrifices that our purple heart recipients have made while carrying the burden of injuries received while participating in direct combat.

The City of Danbury was also declared a Purple Heart City on Aug. 7th 2016. Former Mayor Mark Boughton presented a Purple Heart City proclamation to John Kwiatkowski, Former State Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, at a ceremony that was held to dedicate the parking spaces.

Please visit www.combatwoundedparkingspaces.org for more information about the parking spaces or the Purple Heart medal.