PLEASANT VALLEY – Town Clerk Mary Beth Muir and the Hometown Heroes Committee have succeeded in having the town recognized as a Purple Heart Town by the National Purple Heart Honor Mission. The recognition was a year-long process that Muir and the committee endured to provide another tribute to the town’s veterans who received the distinguished Purple Heart.
The Purple Heart medal is presented to service members who have been wounded or killed as a result of enemy action while serving in the U.S. military. A Purple Heart is a solemn distinction and means a service member has greatly sacrificed themselves, or paid the ultimate price, while in the line of duty, according to the USO.
According to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, more than 1.8 million Purple Heart medals have been presented to service members since the award was created in 1782 in Newburgh by General George Washington.
Richard Lay, who was awarded the Purple Heart as a Marine in Vietnam, serves as the CEO of the National Purple Heart Honor Mission and gave the opening remarks at the rain-soaked ceremony on Saturday and gave the history of the medal. He also commended Town Clerk Muir and her committee for their work to honor the town’s heroes. The ceremony was attended by elected officials and many members of the community, including a large contingent of the Pleasant Valley Fire Department.
Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati reminded attendees of the risks the medal recipients took in defending freedom, telling them to “Never forget.” Town Supervisor John DelVecchio pointed out that town officials have made improvements to the neglected Memorial Park. Citing “apathy and complacency”, the supervisor said the distinguished recognition, marked by road signs and a stone in the park, needs to be maintained by future administrations of the town.
Pleasant Valley has six recipients of the Purple Heart and they all have Hometown Heroes banners hanging in their honor throughout town.. Former Army Sgt. A Richard Scott, one of the town’s Purple Heart recipients, unveiled a memorial stone placed at the town’s Memorial Park on Main Street. Gold Star Mother Donna Yurista attended the ceremony. Her son, Marine Corps Captain Trevor Jon Yurista, a Pleasant Valley native, was killed in Afghanistan in 2008 on his third tour in the war-torn Middle East.
“The Hometown Heroes Committee really made this vision a reality,” Muir told Mid-Hudson News. “Tony Luciano, Jeff Cady, and Lisa Fister, the proud mom of a US Marine, were instrumental in taking my idea and making it a truly special honor for this great town,” adding “We all share the idea that our veterans deserve all of the recognition and respect we can give because they risked so much more for us.”
Pleasant Valley and Beekman are the only two Dutchess County towns that have earned the “Purple Heart Town” designation.
Event photos by Mid-Hudson News:
