{"id":7322,"date":"2025-08-08T14:19:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T14:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/?p=7322"},"modified":"2025-08-08T14:27:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T14:27:03","slug":"hingham-militia-supports-hingham-purple-heart-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/?p=7322","title":{"rendered":"Hingham Militia Supports Hingham Purple Heart Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"7322\" class=\"elementor elementor-7322\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f677dfe elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f677dfe\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8437437\" data-id=\"8437437\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a5bd576 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a5bd576\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h5>Photo of Lt. Mitch Paine and <b>Al Varelas<\/b> \/ USMC\u00a0At Hingham\u2019s Inaugural Purple Heart Day Ceremony.<br \/><br \/><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-af4eacc elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"af4eacc\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-accd97e\" data-id=\"accd97e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f0762d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f0762d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p data-start=\"184\" data-end=\"497\">On <strong data-start=\"187\" data-end=\"201\">August 7th<\/strong>, the Town of Hingham held its <strong data-start=\"232\" data-end=\"271\">inaugural Purple Heart Day Ceremony<\/strong>, marking a solemn and significant tribute to the brave men and women wounded in combat. Community members, local leaders, and veterans gathered to honor those who have paid the price of freedom with their blood and sacrifice.<\/p><p data-start=\"499\" data-end=\"824\">Among those in attendance were <strong data-start=\"541\" data-end=\"561\">Al Varelas, USMC<\/strong>, a proud and decorated Marine.<\/p><p data-start=\"499\" data-end=\"824\">&#8220;As a <strong data-start=\"598\" data-end=\"626\">Disabled Vietnam Veteran<\/strong> and <strong data-start=\"631\" data-end=\"715\">Commander of Chapter #875 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart (Western MA)<\/strong>, I was honored to represent the voices and sacrifices of <strong data-start=\"773\" data-end=\"823\">combat-wounded veterans and Gold Star Families.&#8221; Varelas said.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><p data-start=\"826\" data-end=\"1305\">The Purple Heart has deep roots in American military tradition. First established by <strong data-start=\"911\" data-end=\"940\">General George Washington<\/strong> on <strong data-start=\"944\" data-end=\"962\">August 7, 1782<\/strong>, it was originally known as the <strong data-start=\"995\" data-end=\"1022\">Badge of Military Merit<\/strong>. Washington designed the award to recognize <strong data-start=\"1067\" data-end=\"1106\">&#8220;any singularly meritorious action&#8221;<\/strong> by a soldier \u2014 an early and rare gesture of appreciation in an era when valor often went unrecognized. Made of purple cloth and shaped like a heart, it symbolized both <strong data-start=\"1275\" data-end=\"1286\">courage<\/strong> and <strong data-start=\"1291\" data-end=\"1304\">sacrifice<\/strong>.<\/p><p data-start=\"1307\" data-end=\"1546\">Today, the modern Purple Heart is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are <strong data-start=\"1393\" data-end=\"1424\">wounded or killed in action<\/strong>, and August 7th is observed nationwide as <strong data-start=\"1467\" data-end=\"1496\">National Purple Heart Day<\/strong> \u2014 a day to reflect, remember, and show gratitude.<\/p><p data-start=\"1548\" data-end=\"1817\">Hingham\u2019s ceremony was not only a first \u2014 it was a meaningful promise that the town will never forget the cost of liberty. Standing alongside fellow veterans, particularly someone like Al Varelas, was a reminder that while the wounds of war may heal, the honor endures. God Bless our Veterans!\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo of Lt. Mitch Paine and Al Varelas \/ USMC\u00a0At Hingham\u2019s Inaugural Purple Heart Day Ceremony. On August 7th, the Town of Hingham held its inaugural Purple Heart Day Ceremony, marking a solemn and significant tribute to the brave men and women wounded in combat. Community members, local leaders, and veterans gathered to honor those [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-honor-guard","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7322"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7327,"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7322\/revisions\/7327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinghammilitia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}