A plaque officially designating McIntosh County as a Purple Heart County will be presented to the county commissioners at a special meeting to be held at the courthouse on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m.
Making the presentation will be Steve Byrd, husband of State Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd.
The public is invited to attend the ceremony which will honor all veterans and purple heart recipients for their service to the country.
McIntosh is one of three counties in the state to be so honored. The other two are Comanche and Logan Coun- ties.
The City of Eufaula is one of about 185 Oklahoma cities to be designated Purple Heart cities.
On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Military Order of the Purple Heart will hold a ceremony in Muskogee designating Historical Black Towns of Oklahoma as Purple Heart Cities.
The event will take place at 2 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Center, 300 W. Martin King Blvd.
The purpose of a city or town being called a Purple Heart City/ County is to honor and remember military personnel wounded or killed in combat with hostile forces, according to the Order of the Purple Heart.
This designation recognizes the community’s commitment to honoring and supporting Purple Heart recipients.
To earn this designation, a municipality must have a living or deceased Purple Heart recipient, issue an official proclamation and recognize National Purple Heart Day.
The original Purple Heart, designated as the Badge of Military Merit, was established by George Washington – then the commanderin- chief of the Continental Army – by order from his Newburgh, New York, headquarters on 7 August 1782.
