Evening star., 1921-07-31
N the summer Of 1882 Gen. George

Washington issued an order from
his headquarters at Newburgh.
N Y, authorizing the enlisted r1en
Of his army to wear upon the left breast
.'the figure Of a heart in purple cloth
or silk, edged with narrow lace or bind
Ing" whenever those men performed
any "singularly meritorious action.
This simple purple heart. the nrst
American decoration and the first oy
any country to have general appica-
tion to enlisted men, was the forerunner
of the congressional medal Of honor
the highest distinction which can De
bestowed for valor in the United states.
This madal has teen awarded to 1904
persons since its institution on March
q. 1868. and of the thousands OF heroic
deeds performed during the world war.
only seventy-nine were deemed worthy
of this jealously guarded recognition.
The citations of the 1854 men VINO
medal since its inception furnish 2
story Of steadfast devotion to duty, cool
heroism and almost unbeiieVaoiy ieck
less daring before which the most r9-
mantle tales of medieval chivairy pa,e
into insisnificance. A cursory exam
ination Of the records reveals kaieido-
scopic picture Of a young and virile ma
tion struggling through terrible oini-
culties to greatness. her valorous sons
smoke -besrimed and bleeding, always IN
the vanguard. leading their forces on
to victory.
ssEvERY soldier has marshafs
IL baton in his knapsack." said Ma
poleon. There could be no clearer ex-
nf ho tI 4
tie Corporars' observation than is con-
tanned in the records Of these exploits.
Perhaps the scene is laid on one o. the
battlefields Of the Siyil var, war a; t,s noise
and smoke Of the conflict emerges the
blue clad figure of Sergt OVila Cayer
OF the 14th United States Infantry. All
the officers of the regiment are gone.
dead or wounded. and the men. left
without their leaders. are on the verge
of panic Realizing that the sruation
calls for something above and beyono
the call Of duty" Sergt. Cayer assumes
command Of the hed resmehh.: in ahe most reek
less personal bravery. leads them In tne
charge which changes defeat into
victory.
into the foreground of the picture.
battery on one of the federal fanks is
forced to bear the brunt OF nerce
Confederate onslaught IN torninH
movement which. II success{oi, may may
The confederates. knowing the impor-
tance Of dislodging the battery, pour a
deadly fire into the ravine where It Is
located. Many Of the Yankee artillery
men are casualties sadsn ana 9sr tnsre the runs n
Then a mere boy appears-Jonn Cook;
fffteen-year- old bugler Of the 4th United
States Artillery. Casting aside his
trumpet, he leaps to gun ana serves
it like a veteran until the attack 10 re-
The figure of the dashins cayalryman
abounds. and we see the Hash Of his
giistening saber in that most spectacu-
Lar Lieut. ef coI e cSarIes lHs NJ Belts Of the 18th
Pennsylvania Cavalry. with detach-
ment Of seventy-flve men. surrounds an
entire battalion Of the enemy near
Green.boro c. IN ,hsir ,sSe; surrender ang se
Sometimes the deed Is not 90 spec
tacular-the hero takes part whicn
the 'leading man of the movie would
be last to selectIhut the action aot y nGns
Brewer, at Rappahannock station. IN
1852. who picks up an unexploded shell
which has fallen among his comraaes,
and carries 1t, the fuse sttll burning. 20
Seret. Henri Lefevre Brown Of the 72d
New York Infantry. who. at the battle
Of the Wilderness. voluntarily and un-
der a heavy fire from the enemy. three
times crosses the neio in o' bIsnSst on his
back, thus supplying the Fedora
fbrces, whose ammunition had nearly al
been expended. and enabling them 70
hold their position until reinforcem;snts ;s
arrived, when the enemy "as ufSeh
from It's position"
THE scene shifts to the Philippines
/ and We have a picture OF fierce
band-to-hand fighting in the jungle, OF
surprise and treachery. to the accom-
panhnent of the flashing bolo. Col. J.
Franlxfin Bell, asterward major general
and chief of staff. charges seven in
surxents with his pistol. compelling Ine
Surrender of three. all under close nre
from other insurgents concealed IN q
X1sin il is Col. Frederick Funston of
the famous goth Kansas Infantry.
crossing the Pampanga river on a rait
and "by his skill and daring enabling
the general commanding 70 cary sne
him from an important strategic posi-
And scattered all through the historic
file are scenes from the countess IN
dian wars. Gen. Miles. Capt" Law
ton and Assistant Surgeon Leonard
Wood are seen pursuing Geronimo. the
willy Apache Of the southwestern desert:
Custer at the battle Of the Little Big
Horn and dozens Of other heroes. a
proper account Of the achievements OF
any one Of whom would furnish Ha'e-
With the world war the setting
changes again Here the fighting Is OF
a different character, but even more
terrible, for it is complicated by the
artillery barrage. the high explosive
citation Of Private Michael ]. Perkins
"Michael J. Perkins, private first
class, Company D. 1olst Infantry. For
conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity
above and beyond the cali p.n..M 81 aHfS go,. IA
France. October %. 1918: He volun-
tariiy and alone crawled to- Ger
man 'pillbox' machine-gun emplacement.
tfrom which grenades were being thrown
81 his platoon. Awaiting his oppor-
$unity: when the door vas asa,n
3 threw a bomb inside. bursting the
Scr open; and then, drawing his
Inch knife, rushed into the emplace-
mt. In a hand-to-hand struggle ne
led or wounded several Of the occu-
pts and captured about ut, twenty-nve e,,sya1He
ysveral machine guns"
AS Col. Robert E. Wyllie, in his au-
thoritative work on Orders ana Dec
orations." says. In speaking Of Fer
kins' citation:
others, but equally eloquent; voluntarily
and alone he carried out his plan, In
the course of which he was severely
wounded, but he refused to leave and
continued the action, when second
wound completely disabled him. and
tAH IN