Waterloo, New York – The Village of Waterloo is leading an initiative to honor the brave service members who have received the distinguished Purple Heart with a new local memorial that recognizes this distinctive military honor. The Village is now issuing its second and final call for Purple Heart recipients to be recognized at the 2020 commemoration and memorial unveiling event.

On May 30^th 2020, the Waterloo community will unveil the new memorial, complemented with various events including a formal ceremony at the memorial site in Lafayette Park. 

The Purple Heart was first instituted by George Washington in 1782 to honor bravery in action. The second and current iteration of the award, dating back to February 22, 1932, is to honor those killed or wounded in combat while serving their country. The Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration presented to our brave service members. 

At this time the Village is again encouraging ANY Purple Heart recipients that wish to be included in the memorial and community celebration of service to apply for recognition. “We want to be sure that anyone who has earned this honor can be properly recognized. It is exciting to see the many applications that have already been submitted and want to be sure we capture as many as possible in the timeline allotted for this year’s events” said Mayor O’Connor.  

To ensure a successful application, the Village is asking that the application be submitted by February 15, 2020, in person or by mail to the Waterloo Village Office at 41 West Main Street, Waterloo, NY 13165, or call (315)539-9131 for review by the Waterloo Purple Heart Memorial committee. This submission will provide applicants with eligibility for both the Waterloo, NY memorial as well as the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor https://www.thepurpleheart.com/.

To acquire any missing documentation, contact the Seneca County Veterans Services Office at (315) 539-1651, or the National Personnel Records Center at (314) 801–0800, or at https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/military-personnel. The standard Form 180 (SF180) is required to obtain military records and can be found at https://bit.ly/2vqjfMx.