Purple Heart Truck in Yountville

By Charles Earthman - Dept. Of Calif. SVC

 

      The 2017 Purple Heart Truck Run visited the Veterans Home in Yountville on August 30 on the western swing of its national tour.  The truck and the folks touring with it made an appearance with Purple Heart Wine vintners at the American Legion Department of California 87th Annual Picnic at the California Veterans Home.  California patriots from near and far were on hand to welcome the truck and its crew.  Other stops in California included Redding and the Ronald Reagan Library in Sini Valley. 

 

       “Mobility is Freedom” is the theme of the 2017 Purple Heart Truck Run.  The Ford F-150 Raptor has been modified to accommodate amputees and people with paralysis. At the end of its national tour, the truck will be given to a combat-wounded veteran.

 

         The Yountville visit is part of the Purple Heart Truck’s national tour that began at the Washington Monument on July 1 and ends in Dallas on August 13 at the Military Order of the Purple Heart’s national convention.  The keys to the truck will then be presented to retired Marine Sgt. Marshall Kennedy, a Purple Heart recipient from Farmington, Arkansas.  Kennedy was severely wounded by an IED on deployment in Afghanistan in June 2011.