Original Item: Only One Available. The Purple Heart (PH) 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, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members – the only earlier award being the obsolete Fidelity Medallion. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York.

The Purple Heart award is a heart-shaped medal within a gold border, 1+3⁄8 inches (35 mm) wide, containing a profile of General George Washington. Above the heart appears a shield of the coat of arms of George Washington (a white shield with two red bars and three red stars in chief) between sprays of green leaves. The reverse consists of a raised bronze heart with the words FOR MILITARY MERIT below the coat of arms and leaves.

The ribbon is 1 3⁄8 inches (35 mm) wide and consists of the following stripes: 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) white; 1 1⁄8 inches (29 mm) purple; and 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) white.

Additional awards of the Purple Heart are denoted by oak leaf clusters in the Army, Air Force, and Space Force, and additional awards of the Purple Heart Medal are denoted by 5⁄16 inch stars in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

Most Purple Heart medals are rim numbered or engraved on the back underneath “FOR MILITARY MERIT”. This one is not rim numbered but it is engraved:

Raymond F.
Gibson

Unfortunately we have not been able to pinpoint Mr. Gibson’s service information due to it being a surprisingly popular name of the time. So this example is unresearched but it is a great candidate as a research project.

The medal and ribbon are offered in great condition and comes ready to display!