SWFL Military Museum and Library celebrates Purple Heart Day

August 7 is National Purple Heart Day, a day to honor the brave servicemen and women who were wounded in battle or paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Florida’s Purple Heart Wall is finding a new home in Southwest Florida, and veterans say the exhibit means a lot to them.

“I can’t even begin to explain,” said Ralph A. Santillo, the founder of Southwest Florida’s Military Museum and Library. “In nine years we’ve come from the ground up.”

The museum is welcoming a special exhibit just in time for Purple Heart Day.

“These are not just wounded warriors, these are killed in action warriors. Imagine the feeling when they offered this to me,” said Santillo.

The wall in Cape Coral is one of two in the world, honoring 369 veterans.

“I stand in the middle of heroes everyday that I walk in here, you can’t buy that.”

Part of a ceremony held Tuesday honored fallen World War II soldier, Vito Portanova who was killed in action during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.

“He would be saying, ‘I didn’t expect this.’ He would be saying, ‘I thought I was forgotten,’ and he said, ‘it’s obvious my family did not forget me.,’” said Captain Jim Albert a US Navy veteran.

Captain Jim Albert, Portanova’s nephew, received the Purple Heart his uncle never got all those years ago, honoring his bravery.

“This is a highlight of my life,” Albert said.

He said it’s an honor being able to pay respect to a man who risked his life for the freedom we have today.

“If a million purple hearts were given out just in WWII, imagine how many were also given out in Korea, in Vietnam, in Desert Storm, in Afghanistan and Iraq, those are our heroes.”

The Gunter-Berg Foundation also presented a $100,000 check to the museum to help pay for the Purple Heart exhibit.

Admission to the museum is free every day. To read more you can visit their website.