Dunedin Dedicates New Purple Heart ParkGovernor Charlie Crist Recognizes Dunedin as the First Purple Heart CityDUNEDIN – The City of Dunedin Florida is the first in the nation to become a Purple Heart City. A special ceremony to dedicate the new Purple Heart Park in the City’s downtown was held Aug. 7. This special day coincides with the National Day of Recognition. “The City of Dunedin is blazing the trail for other cities in the country to follow suit.” James Randalls, Past National Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart said. “Based on my experience in Dunedin we are now looking to adopt other cities to become Purple Heart Cities and Dunedin has led the way to make this possible.” The City of Dunedin became the first city in the country to become a Purple Heart City on Aug. 3, 2006. On Aug. 7, 2007 a small ceremony took place and two trees were planted to honor the veterans. With the hard work and dedication of local resident Danny Sowder, Chapter Commander JFK Chapter 1963 of Dunedin, this year the city dedicated Purple Heart Park in the downtown highlighted with a special monument and Walk of Honor. Parkland has been donated in Downtown Dunedin to host the monument and commemorative bricks will be displayed through the park to create The Walk of Honor. Bricks are available for purchase and will be engraved in memory or in honor of Purple Heart Recipients. More information about the event and the bricks can be found at www.dunedingov.com. Governor Charlie Crist had this to say about the National Day of Recognition “Florida honors its Purple Heart heroes and to show our gratitude, the state grants free undergraduate tuition at state colleges and universities for Florida recipients of the Purple Heart. Florida also has a special license plate available to those awarded the Purple Heart.” “As a way of recognizing Purple Heart Day, the City of Dunedin, Fla., dedicated a Purple Heart Monument on Aug. 7. The Military Order of the Purple Heart named Dunedin the nation’s first Purple Heart City in 2006.” Purple Heart Park is located at the corner of Main St. and Broadway St. in Downtown Dunedin. The Dunedin City Commission was in attendance along with many local Veterans and Purple Heart Recipients. U.S. Representative C.W. Bill Young along with a representative from the office of Governor Charlie Crist.
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