VA medical center honors Purple Heart recipients

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center hosted an event to recognize New Mexico's recipients of the Order of the Purple Heart. Around 75 people attended the Aug. 13 event at the VA center's Education Auditorium, which was held in honor of those who were injured in combat.

Bill Armstrong, the public affairs specialist for the center, said it was the first Purple Heart ceremony at the center.

"It's important that the ceremony honor this special group of veterans," Armstrong said. The event was the brainchild of the center's director, Andrew Welch, who got the idea during a conversation with local members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a national organization of wounded combat veterans.

Welch acted as master of ceremonies at the event. New Mexico Department of Veterans' Services Secretary Jack Fox and New Mexico National Guard Adjutant General Brig. Gen. Andrew Salas also took part.

Twenty-nine attendees were given a letter and commemorative pin at the ceremony. Honorees represented the nation's great variety of military service and history. There were current and former active-duty members who had served in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, and who had taken up arms in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Purple Heart recipient and Vietnam War veteran Ken O'Keefe led the pledge of allegiance at the event. He said events like this are important to shine a light on veterans.

"As we get older, we're not in the forefront as Vietnam veterans," he said. "Not every family now has a youngster that is deployed or has been deployed, and there are other things that the media focuses on. The job of the military is somewhat overlooked."

O'Keefe served as the captain of a Navy swiftboat in Vietnam and said he looks back on his service fondly.

"It was fun, most of the time," he said.

He was wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade during an ambush. Ted Kocon, an Army and Air Force veteran, said people don't know enough about the wars he served in: World War II and Korea. Kocon was wounded during World War II while battling the Japanese in the Philippines.

"I wish people would learn more about World War II and Korea. They don't know enough," he said.

Marine Corps veteran Richard Gibbs who served in Korea and Vietnam, said the Purple Heart community shares a bond.

"It's definitely something special," Gibbs said. "We experienced things that other people haven't, for sure."

About 1.8 million Purple Heart citations have been awarded since the 1930s. Around 2,000 of those recipients have been from New Mexico, according to Welch.

During the event, a $14,000 check from members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart was presented in support of the Albuquerque Fisher House project, an on-campus, free, temporary housing area for families of VA hospital patients.

The cast and crew of "The Night Shift" television show, which is filmed in Albuquerque, held a golf tournament to raise the money. Although quite a bit more money must be raised, Armstrong said construction on the project should to start in late 2016 or early 2017. There are Fisher Houses at 24 VA medical centers and 24 military installations across the country that range from 5,000 to 16,800 square feet.

The houses provide private suites for families and common kitchen, dining and laundry areas The cost of the Albuquerque facility will be about $6 million. Those who wish to make a donation to the project can do so at www.fisherhouse.org.