“ The Secretary of a military department, or the Secretary of the Treasury, shall, in the name of the President of the United States, award the Purple Heart, with suitable ribbons and appurtenances, posthumously, to any person covered by, and under the circumstances described in, paragraph 1 who, after April 5, 1917, has been, or may hereafter be, killed, or who has died or may hereafter die after being wounded. ”

“ WHEREAS General George Washington, at Newburg-on-the-Hudson, on August 7,1782, during the War of the Revolution, issued an Order establishing the Honorary Badge of Distinction, otherwise known as the Badge of Military Merit or Decoration of the Purple Heart ”