Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after April 5, 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members – the only earlier award being the obsolete Fidelity Medallion. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York.

This is a gorgeous privately-engraved Purple Heart Medal in its original box engraved Bernard Shapiro. In our research, we’ve found a hospital admission file for Bernard Shapiro, admitted in May 1945, for wounds in the abdomen, abdominal wall, and pelvis, classified as a battle injury from a fall. This is the only battle injury we could find for a Bernard Shapiro. His serial number was 06909924 and from that we found his enlistment record, having been born in 1919 in Kings County, New York, and enlisting on March 14th, 1942. From this we believe this to be Silver Star Recipient Bernard Shapiro, who participated in five invasions during his tour of duty in World War ll. North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Naples and Anzio. He was awarded the Silver Star for valor during battle outside of Anzio Italy, in the spring of 1944. His gravestone does not list a Purple Heart, but considering it is a private engraving and the hospital file lists it as a fall, it may not have been Army official. This was the only wounded Bernard Shapiro we could find, so we are confident it’s him.

The medal is in good shape but the pin on the back has some fraying and the ribbon is worn. The engraving is gorgeous, however. The medal comes with the pin in its original case. Comes ready for further research and display!

The Purple Heart award is a heart-shaped medal within a gold border, 1 3⁄8 inches (35 mm) wide, containing a profile of General George Washington. Above the heart appears a shield of the coat of arms of George Washington (a white shield with two red bars and three red stars in chief) between sprays of green leaves. The reverse consists of a raised bronze heart with the words FOR MILITARY MERIT below the coat of arms and leaves.

The ribbon is 1 3⁄8 inches (35 mm) wide and consists of the following stripes: 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) white; 1 1⁄8 inches (29 mm) purple; and 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) white.