Andover To Be Named A Purple Heart Community Oct. 24

ANDOVER, MA — Andover's 17 residents who have received the Purple Heart will be honored Thursday with the recognition of the town as a "Purple Heart Community." The designation is given by the Military Order of the Purple Heart, and will make the town part of the Purple Heart Trail, "a national network of roads, bridges, highways and other monuments and trails honoring soldiers who have received a Purple Heart." The town will also hang a Purple Heart banner in front of Town Hall and fly a flag annually on Aug. 7, for Purple Heart Day.

The ceremony will be 6 p.m. Thursday in the Andover High School Auditorium, 80 Shawsheen Road, Andover. It will be followed by light refreshments.

Andover has had approximately 356 purple heart recipients dating back to World War I, according to Mark Comeiro, the town director of veteran services. Six recipients are expected to attend Thursday, he said.

“For more than 200 years the Purple Heart has been a symbol of bravery, courage and patriotism, and it is a tremendous honor to have this designation for the Town of Andover,” Comeiro said in a statement. “Andover has a long history of military service, and this ceremony will honor those men and women from our community who have answered the call in support of their country.

Comeiro's office has reached out to over 500 veterans in addition to the 17 Purple Heart recipients, he said, and has seen an "amazing response."

"We have one veteran in Andover, 97 years old, who's a purple heart recipient. His daughter just called me to say how excited he is to be in attendance. Something like this, it rejuvenates that camaraderie in the town, and heightens that level of patriotism that is already there," Comeiro said.

The original version of the Purple Heart was first awarded by George Washington, as the "Badge of Military Merit," making it the oldest U.S. military award still awarded.

Christopher Huffaker: 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.