Events > Purple Heart Day - August 7, 2004 > Keynote Speech

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Purple Heart Day
August 7, 2004

Keynote Speech
By 1LT Dewayne White

When Steve first asked me to speak here today, I quickly accepted. I mean, who would turn down such an awesome opportunity to speak to such a distinguished group of veterans. Then, after it sank in that I would be speaking to veterans of all generations, at the home of our first president, to celebrate the birth of the Purple Heart, I began to get very nervous.

What in the world can I say to you all, you veterans whose wars were far more like hell than the one I fought, whose lives were more stressful than mine will ever be, and whose bravery I could never touch. Truthfully, I should be sitting out there, listening to you tell me about your lives. You suffered more than I will ever suffer. You endured hardships that are unthinkable today. You made this country free, over and over again. And I thank you, every one of you, veteran, spouse, family member, and friends, on behalf of my generation. You all played a part in making this country what it is today. Thank You!

Until this week, I still could not figure out what exactly I would say on the subject of the Purple Heart. As I hinted at before, I feel like a kid up here, and for the last month, I felt as if it would be backwards for me to stand in front of you and speak. But, like I knew it would, it simply came to me. Actually, I have to admit that it didn't just come to me. My wife, who unfortunately is with family in Germany and can't be here today, gave me the idea. During a phone conversation this week, I admitted to her my inability to come up with something to say (which anyone who knows me well will tell you, is an odd thing) I heard her reply with exactly the point I wanted to get across. She told me that the Purple Heart had been a bridge, for both of us, that spanned a gap between the generations. It was so simple, yet so profound. It made me realize, as I often do, that I was lucky to be married to such a wonderfully intelligent woman.

I had originally planned on being extremely quiet about my Purple Heart. It was one of those things that I just thought I'd keep to myself and other people didn't need to know about. I joked about it to play it off around my soldiers when I returned. My standard line was that there were three things in the Army I never wanted: a combat patch, a combat infantryman's badge, and the Purple Heart. And, unlucky me, in a period of just a few weeks, I got all that I never wanted, and I had planned on keeping it all to myself.

However, when I returned from the Iraq a very good friend of mine who had fought in Vietnam told me in no uncertain terms that I owed it to those around me to share my experiences. He explained to me that God had spared me for some reason, and that I owed it to those around me to find out why and then share that with them to build upon the bridge that others had built and that future generations would build. I hadn't been wounded to get some nifty license plates or to make jokes about the scar on my hand. He encouraged me to join the Military Order of the Purple Heart, even though he was not a member himself, because he knew how important it was to share these experiences and to be around others who have lived through the same experiences.

If you have served in combat, you know that what I am about to say is true. No one who hasn't been there can ever really understand what it was like. I know that when I returned I didn't necessarily want to talk about it all, but I wanted people to somehow understand. But they couldn't, and they never will.

Those of us, who have been wounded, even slightly, share another bond that is even stronger and even more unexplainable. Only another Purple Hearter can understand the feelings that go through one's mind after they realize that, first, they have been hit, and second, that they are still alive. It is a feeling that cannot be realized unless it is felt firsthand. Every member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart has felt what I just described firsthand.

So, that is why I say it is a bridge for the generations. In our chapter, we have members from every service and from every conflict I can think of. I would never have met 99 percent of these fine Americans had it not been for the Military Order of the Purple Heart. What a great influence fellow Purple Hearters like Steve Cobb, Ed Schnug, and Chris Harl have already been on my life. They don't know it, but to the "young lieutenant" as I am often referred to at our meetings, these men are heroes. They set a remarkable standard of honor, patriotism, and determination that I pray to live up to one day.

And, it is not only Military Order of the Purple Heart members that I have been privileged enough to meet. As a platoon leader performing funerals in Arlington National Cemetery, I was constantly approached by tourists or even members of a funeral party. The overwhelming majority asked about my Purple Heart. (Since we wear full-sized medals in the cemetery, it stands out very prominently.) A great number of them shared that they, too, had been wounded in combat. Whenever at all possible, I stayed and spoke with those men for as long as I could. They shared their experiences from Vietnam, or World War II, or Korea like we were old friends. You see, even though we had never met, we understood each other like no one else can. We understood the surprise, the fear, the happiness, the guilt, and the confusion that come with being wounded in combat.

As we celebrate today, we must remember that not everyone that earned the Purple Heart was as fortunate as we are. Every combat-wounded veteran here today is blessed, because we were able to receive our Purple Hearts. We cannot explain why in battle some die, some live, some are wounded, and others escape certain death without a scratch. But we all know that for every one of us dressed in purple here today, there are others who did not return. There are others who did not receive their Purple Heart in an awards ceremony, standing next to the brothers with whom they fought. Their families accepted on their behalf because they paid the ultimate sacrifice for us. But, what we do know is that God allowed those who are not with us today, even if for only a short time, to touch our lives. So I ask, as a tribute to those who gave their lives for this great nation, that you please stand with me for a moment of silence and think of the name of someone who did not return. Think of the name of someone who was not able to receive their medal.

May God Bless you all and God Bless America!

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