09/25/2026
💜 THE MEDAL THAT DISAPPEARED FOR NEARLY 150 YEARS 🇺🇸
In 1782, General George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit.
By 1783, Sergeants Elijah Churchill, William Brown, and Daniel Bissell Jr. had become its first known recipients.
And then…
The award disappeared.
After the Revolutionary War, the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse. No additional awards are known to have been presented, and for generations, Washington’s purple heart-shaped badge faded from military life.
For nearly 150 years, the decoration remained part of America’s past.
But the idea behind it never truly disappeared.
After World War I, military leaders began looking again at ways to recognize extraordinary service and sacrifice. In 1927, Army Chief of Staff General Charles P. Summerall proposed reviving Washington’s Badge of Military Merit. The effort stalled, but the idea remained alive.
Then, in 1931, a new Army Chief of Staff reopened the project.
His name was General Douglas MacArthur.
MacArthur wanted the revived decoration ready for an important anniversary:
February 22, 1932 — the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth.
Army heraldic specialist Elizabeth Will created the design that would become the modern Purple Heart, incorporating Washington’s profile and preserving the heart shape that connected the new medal to its Revolutionary War predecessor.
What had once been a piece of purple cloth was about to return as something new.
Something recognizable.
Something enduring.
💜 For nearly a century and a half, the Badge of Military Merit was silent.
But its story was not finished.
On February 22, 1932, it would return to the United States Army under a name the world would come to know:
The Purple Heart.
🇺🇸 Next: 1932 — The Purple Heart Returns.
