The Purple Heart Trail
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The Purple Heart Trail
| Carol Movahed (View posts) | Posted: 13 Nov 2005 2:16AM GMT |
Classification: Military
TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Pittsburgh, PA
Saturday, November 12, 2005
When the B-17 he was piloting slammed into Belgian soil at 105 mph, Robert H. Cunliffe and his crew of eight miraculously escaped the burning wreckage with only minor injuries. Cunliffe, 81, of Mt. Lebanon, still remembers it clearly. Then a 20-year-old 1st Lt. with the Army Air Corps, Cunliffe was awarded the Purple Heart after his plane was shot down Nov. 6, 1944, during a mission over Germany,
near the Belgian border.
"We were fortunate ... found some friendly territory to put it down on," said Cunliffe. "The crash ripped the bomb-bay doors off, and it filled up with dirt."
Sixty-one years later, that momentous day has helped to shape Cunliffe's new mission in life: to make certain that America's combat-wounded veterans are recognized for their wartime sacrifices.
Cunliffe is pushing to get segments of Pennsylvania highways designated as part of a national Purple Heart Trail honoring all veterans, and those wounded in particular.
"You can't help but love these guys," said Cunliffe. Some veterans receive attention from their families, he said, but others are "just cut adrift."
Cunliffe also helps veterans through the Sharing and Caring Group of Pittsburgh.
"Nothing is too good for them," he said.
The Sharing and Caring organization takes 700 to 1,000 veterans on a boat trip on Pittsburgh's three rivers each year after Labor Day.
They come from Veterans Administration facilities or state veterans homes as far away as Erie and Altoona, said Ed Vogel, 75, of Crafton, the former veterans service officer for the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
"One guy in a wheelchair stuck his hand out to me last year and said, 'This is the greatest day of my life. I haven't been out of the hospital in 25 years,'" Vogel said.
Since his service, Cunliffe has traveled the world. His friends include astronauts, heads of state and military officials in the White House and the Pentagon. A financial planner still active today, he likes jazz and counted band leader Glenn Miller among his friends.
The Purple Heart, established by George Washington in 1782 during the Revolutionary War, is a combat decoration awarded to U.S. military men and women wounded in fighting or to their next of kin.
About 500,000 people alive today have earned the medal, said Ray Funderburk, spokesman for the Military Order of the Purple Heart. They are among more than 5 million Purple Heart recipients since World War II.
The Purple Heart Trail would "specifically honor every individual since the award was instituted by General Washington," Cunliffe said. He and other organizers envision a trail stretching from Maine to Florida, and from
California to New York.
The grassroots effort to win designations for portions of the national trail started about five years ago.
"It just takes a little patriotism," Funderburk said.
All but a few states have legislation drafted or already have
designated portions of highway systems as part of the trail, said Eric Gardner, deputy National Purple Heart Trail coordinator.
Pennsylvania is not among them.
The commonwealth hasn't designated any highway as part of the national trail, said PennDOT spokesman Ed Myslewicz, and no lawmaker in the state House or Senate has written legislation to do so.
Cunliffe wants to change that. He intends to lobby Western Pennsylvania lawmakers to sponsor the necessary resolutions to designate portions of Route 40 and Interstate 70 as part of the trail.
He hopes to see monuments honoring U.S. troops who were killed or wounded in action erected at Fort Necessity, near Uniontown, Fayette County, and at Fort Pitt as part of the trail project. The monuments cost about $6,000 each.
Pennsylvania has renamed almost 100 highways, bridges and interchanges in honor of military personnel, according to PennDOT.
Article written by : Craig Smith
Saturday, November 12, 2005
When the B-17 he was piloting slammed into Belgian soil at 105 mph, Robert H. Cunliffe and his crew of eight miraculously escaped the burning wreckage with only minor injuries. Cunliffe, 81, of Mt. Lebanon, still remembers it clearly. Then a 20-year-old 1st Lt. with the Army Air Corps, Cunliffe was awarded the Purple Heart after his plane was shot down Nov. 6, 1944, during a mission over Germany,
near the Belgian border.
"We were fortunate ... found some friendly territory to put it down on," said Cunliffe. "The crash ripped the bomb-bay doors off, and it filled up with dirt."
Sixty-one years later, that momentous day has helped to shape Cunliffe's new mission in life: to make certain that America's combat-wounded veterans are recognized for their wartime sacrifices.
Cunliffe is pushing to get segments of Pennsylvania highways designated as part of a national Purple Heart Trail honoring all veterans, and those wounded in particular.
"You can't help but love these guys," said Cunliffe. Some veterans receive attention from their families, he said, but others are "just cut adrift."
Cunliffe also helps veterans through the Sharing and Caring Group of Pittsburgh.
"Nothing is too good for them," he said.
The Sharing and Caring organization takes 700 to 1,000 veterans on a boat trip on Pittsburgh's three rivers each year after Labor Day.
They come from Veterans Administration facilities or state veterans homes as far away as Erie and Altoona, said Ed Vogel, 75, of Crafton, the former veterans service officer for the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
"One guy in a wheelchair stuck his hand out to me last year and said, 'This is the greatest day of my life. I haven't been out of the hospital in 25 years,'" Vogel said.
Since his service, Cunliffe has traveled the world. His friends include astronauts, heads of state and military officials in the White House and the Pentagon. A financial planner still active today, he likes jazz and counted band leader Glenn Miller among his friends.
The Purple Heart, established by George Washington in 1782 during the Revolutionary War, is a combat decoration awarded to U.S. military men and women wounded in fighting or to their next of kin.
About 500,000 people alive today have earned the medal, said Ray Funderburk, spokesman for the Military Order of the Purple Heart. They are among more than 5 million Purple Heart recipients since World War II.
The Purple Heart Trail would "specifically honor every individual since the award was instituted by General Washington," Cunliffe said. He and other organizers envision a trail stretching from Maine to Florida, and from
California to New York.
The grassroots effort to win designations for portions of the national trail started about five years ago.
"It just takes a little patriotism," Funderburk said.
All but a few states have legislation drafted or already have
designated portions of highway systems as part of the trail, said Eric Gardner, deputy National Purple Heart Trail coordinator.
Pennsylvania is not among them.
The commonwealth hasn't designated any highway as part of the national trail, said PennDOT spokesman Ed Myslewicz, and no lawmaker in the state House or Senate has written legislation to do so.
Cunliffe wants to change that. He intends to lobby Western Pennsylvania lawmakers to sponsor the necessary resolutions to designate portions of Route 40 and Interstate 70 as part of the trail.
He hopes to see monuments honoring U.S. troops who were killed or wounded in action erected at Fort Necessity, near Uniontown, Fayette County, and at Fort Pitt as part of the trail project. The monuments cost about $6,000 each.
Pennsylvania has renamed almost 100 highways, bridges and interchanges in honor of military personnel, according to PennDOT.
Article written by : Craig Smith