Auburn has a lot of heart, and now it has a purple one.
At its Aug. 20 meeting, the Auburn City Council designated Glenn Road, from Bent Creek to Donahue Drive, as a certified Purple Heart Trail.
This morning Sept. 12, at 9 a.m. at City Hall, Mayor Bill Ham and Leslie Digman, Commander of the J. R. Thomas Memorial Chapter 2205, revealed the first sign to be placed along Glenn Road.
The trail honors Purple Heart medal recipients by establishing roads, bridges and other monuments as visual reminders of those awarded the Purple Heart medal. The medal decorates any soldier of the United States Armed Services who was wounded or killed in combat.
"I hope it opens some eyes up to actually realizing there are people out there who are doing their job to protect this country, and to keep other opposing forces out of this country," Digman said.
The sign reads "Purple Heart Trail" below the Purple Heart symbol with a navy background. Signs should be displayed along Glenn Road in coming weeks.
"It'll be two or three signs," City Manager Charles Duggan said at the Aug. 20 council meeting. "It may just be signs at the entrances, and that's supposed to be a respect and honoring those service members that received a Purple Heart that are residents of our community."
The Military Order of Purple Heart was chartered by an Act of Congress Feb. 22, 1932. General George Washington created the Purple Heart medal, formerly known as Badge of Military Merit, in 1782.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
