The purple hearts are so stoked to be outside, they’ve grown in almost bushy with how much sun they get.
And the sempervivums are just going crazy throwing pups these days. I actually just let a few of them drop into the pots when I upgraded them a few weeks ago.
The ones I’m most stoked on are those moonstone babies that are about to flower.
Susan Sonnheim is an American veteran formerly of the Wisconsin National Guard who served in the Iraq War. While on duty Sonnheim was the victim of a roadside bomb in Baghdad which left her body filled with shrapnel, blinding her in one eye as well as causing injuries to her spine and limbs. She only survived the attack because the bullet that penetrated her Kevlar vest and would have killed her was stopped by a tobacco tin in her pocket. Following her injuries, Sonnheim became the first woman in the National Guard to receive the Purple Heart medal awarded to wounded soldiers.
Since returning home to the US, Sonnheim has described a lack of acceptance of her veteran status because she is a woman and says there is gender bias in the care that American soldiers returning from war receive. She is quoted in The Guardiansaying“There is no reason for women not to be in combat. It’s a buddy system – you look after the person next to you whether they are male or female. Once you are a soldier, that’s the way it is, a soldier is a soldier.”
Photo credit: Tom Sperduto, sourced from TIME magazine.
“On this day in 1782, in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army, creates the “Badge for Military Merit,” a decoration consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with a narrow binding of silver, with the word Merit stitched across the face in silver. The badge was to be presented to soldiers for “any singularly meritorious action” and permitted its wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge. The honoree’s name and regiment were also to be inscribed in a “Book of Merit.”
Washington’s “Purple Heart” was awarded to only three known soldiers during the Revolutionary War: Elijah Churchill, William Brown and Daniel Bissell, Jr. The “Book of Merit” was lost, and the decoration was largely forgotten until 1927, when General Charles P. Summerall, the U.S. Army chief of staff, sent an unsuccessful draft bill to Congress to “revive the Badge of Military Merit.” In 1931, Summerall’s successor, General Douglas MacArthur, took up the cause, hoping to reinstate the medal in time for the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth. On February 22, 1932, Washington’s 200th birthday, the U.S. War Department announced the creation of the “Order of the Purple Heart.”
In addition to aspects of Washington’s original design, the new Purple Heart also displays a bust of Washington and his coat of arms. The Order of the Purple Heart, the oldest American military decoration for military merit, is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy. It is also awarded to soldiers who have suffered maltreatment as prisoners of war.”
This week in History: August 4, 1944 - Anne Frank captured August 5, 1858 - First transatlantic telegraph cable completed August 6, 1945 - American bomber drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 7, 1912 - Teddy Roosevelt nominated as Bull Moose candidate August 8, 1863 - General Robert E. Lee offers resignation August 9, 1877 - Nez Perce fight in the Battle of Big Hole August 10, 1846 - Smithsonian Institution created
ThisPurple Heart, awarded to James C. Nelson after his service in World War I, can be found in the online collection of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
10/1/16:Setcreasea purpurea, or “Purple heart”; a flowering plant species with purple stems and leaves, and small pink flowers. This plant is mainly known for being decorative/ornamental, usually one would put it in a hanging basket as it cascades quite nicely ^.^. It generally prefers a climate above 50 degrees F, and as for watering, you would just need to allow it to fully dry out between waterings!
