Coast-to-coast truck run makes first-ever stop in Enterprise

“Mobility is freedom.”

That’s a truth that combat wounded veterans are daily aware of. It is also the theme of this year’s Purple Heart Truck Run.

To heighten public awareness of the sacrifices of those living with combat related injuries, the Military Order of the Purple Heart has teamed with the Wounded Warrior Family Support and Ford Motor Company for a 7,800-mile journey driving a mobility-equipped truck, adapted to accommodate combat wounded veterans who are paralyzed or have lost legs and or arms.

Driven exclusively by amputee veterans, the Purple Heart Run will stop in Enterprise Thursday, July 5, as part of it’s 7,800-mile odyssey to raise awareness of the mobility needs of combat wounded veterans.

The public is invited to see the Purple Heart Truck during its stop over at Ed Sherling Ford on Glover Avenue in Enterprise July 5 from 8 until 11 a.m. Those interested can sign the truck with gold-ink pens so that by the time the truck reaches the final stop, it will be covered in names and encouraging messages.

The truck’s journey began in Springfield, Va., June 17 and will end in Spokane, Washington June 30 at the Military Order of the Purple Heart National Convention.

There the keys to the truck will be presented to U.S. Army Sergeant (Ret.) Justin Burdette, a Purple Heart recipient from Palm Bay, Fla., who was chosen from a nation-wide search of eligible nominees. 

On June 9, 2013, Burdette was three months into his third deployment to Afghanistan when his platoon received incoming mortar and rocket fire while on a dismounted patrol in the Wardak Province. Burdette was hit with a 107 millimeter rock and the blast caused him to lose both legs below the knee. For his injuries, he was awarded the Purple Heart medal.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart is an organization chartered by the United States Congress in 1932, for recipients of the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received in combat. The MOPH is unique among veteran service organizations in that all its members were wounded in combat or by an act of terrorism. 

There are an estimated 1.8 million Purple Heart recipients either killed in action or wounded in combat or by an act of international terrorism, according to MOPH Chapter 2216 Commander Robert Green of Enterprise. “Those combat wounded service members who have transitioned back into civilian life have made great sacrifices to ensure our freedom, but they often go unrecognized,” Green said. “This is the first time the Purple Heart Truck Run has come to Alabama and the first place it will stop is Ed Sherling Ford in Enterprise.”  

MOPH Chapter 2216 Adjutant Dwain Hartwick said that the Wiregrass Memorial Chapter of the MOPH thanks Paul Sherling and Ed Sherling Ford, Kartik Patel and Best Western Plus Circle Inn, Jacob Herrera and Santa Fe Restaurant and Lisa Gray at Milky Moo’s for their sponsorship and dedication to ensuring the success of the event.

Hartwick also reminded civilians of the price that these wounded veterans paid for their service. “It’s an award no one wants to receive, certainly not twice,” he said.