Ex-Marine leads charge to put Tri-Cities on the Purple Heart Trail
Kevin Veleke, a Kennewick ex-Marine, and a local VFW post are leading a charge to put the Mid-Columbia on the national Purple Heart Trail.
The trail celebrates the sacrifices of U.S. service members wounded or a killed as a result of enemy combat with a network of roads, bridges and monuments celebrating the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
The Purple Heart is the oldest active military award and apart from the Medal of Honor, is the most recognized, according to a history prepared for Congress.
Veleke and the Kennewick VFW Post are asking elected officials to adopt resolutions declaring themselves “Purple Heart” entities.
The year-long campaign culminates on Aug. 7, 2027, with a celebration of local Purple Heart recipients.
Aug. 7 is celebrated annually as Purple Heart Day. It commemorates the day in 1782 when Gen. George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit.
The badge featured a heart-shaped piece of purple cloth and was unusual for recognizing enlisted soldiers for meritorious service to the Continental Army.
No Purple Heart list
Veleke hopes that by 2027, the entire Tri-Cities will be on board and the post can honor local recipients at a public reception.
It has to find them first, though.
“There’s no list,” said Veleke.
Veleke knows of three living recipients in the Tri-Cities, all wounded in Vietnam. He invites recipients, their friends and family to contact him through the VFW: vfwpost_5785@outlook.com.
“There’s obviously more out there. We’ll find them,” he said.
Veleke is a retired insurance broker who served in the Marines in Vietnam and later Okinawa and California after he graduated from Washington State University in 1968.
Veleke brings a history of building public support to civic causes. Last year, he was honored as Kennewick Man of the Year for his work with veterans and other civic groups including school funding campaigns.
The local VFW post embraced the Purple Heart Trail initiative during a cleanup effort at the Vietnam Memorial on the Kennewick side of the cable bridge, near Lampson International.
The post has several initiatives to support veterans, including maintaining memorials, holding events and identifying and cleaning up graves.
Purple Heart City
The Kennewick City Council approved a Purple Heart City designation in May and the Port of Kennewick Commission indicated it will follow suit in June.
Private businesses are considering signing on as well.
Veleke said he started in Kennewick because that’s where he lives. He promised to bring his pitch to Pasco, Richland, West Richland, Prosser, Benton City and beyond.
The VFW post will pay for Purple Heart City signs, which will be installed at key spots around the community.
Virtually any organization can join the Purple Heart Trail by designating itself as a Purple Heart entity.
Resolutions are uploaded to a national website, which tracks Purple Heart Trail entities by state.
Dozens of Washington cities and a handful of counties have joined in, as have scores of veterans organizations, a golf course, restaurants and other veteran-friendly organizations.
Interstate 5 is an official segment of the trail.
While it’s unclear how many Purple Heart veterans live in the Tri-Cities area, military veterans are an important part of the community.
The Washington Military Department estimated there were 47,000 veterans within a 75-mile radius of the Tri-Cities in 2024, when it first selected a farm circle in Richland for its second state-operated military cemetery. It finalized the selection earlier this year.
Veleke said the cemetery plans recognize the veterans in the area, as does the Department of Veterans Affairs plan to build a $48 million outpatient clinic in Kennewick.
When built, the new VA clinic will be ten times larger than the current clinic at the Richland federal building.
Purple Heart history
The award now known as the Purple Heart was the first military honor given to ordinary soldiers rather than elite commanders and aristocrats.
Though it originated almost 244 years ago, the award fell out of use for more than a century.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Douglas MacArthur reinstated it in its current form in 1932 as a brass and purple enamel medal with the George Washington’s face in profile.
Initially, only those serving in the Army were eligible.
In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt extended the award to Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard members serving in World War II.
In 1952, President Harry Truman made it retroactive to World War I.
Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan extended eligibility during their respective administrations
Since 1997, eligibility has been limited to military personnel.
Go to purpleheart.org/purplehearttrail.