The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities unveiled a newly extended Purple Heart Trail on Aug. 7. The department held a ceremony with Northern Region Director Joe Kemp, former Alaska Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart John Knott and former Alaska state senator and Purple Heart recipient Josh Revak.
According to the Military Order of the Purple Heart website, the trail serves to honor military service members who have received a Purple Heart. Currently, 45 states and Guam have dedicated Purple Heart Trails. Kemp said that public input on the trail has been positive.
“It shows our veterans that we care very much about them and their sacrifice, and then it also remembers all the folks that have lost their lives in the line of duty,” Kemp said.
The state legislature passed a bill in 2008 to establish the Purple Heart Trail in Alaska. It originally ran along the Alaska Highway from the US-Canada border to Fairbanks. A new bill passed in 2022 to extend the trail to include the Parks, Sterling and Seward Highways, running through the Kenai Peninsula into Homer. The trail also includes the Alaska Marine Highway, creating the longest Purple Heart trail at nearly 900 road miles and 3600 marine highway miles.
Kemp said the state funded the $250,000 project to install six kiosks, five large signs and 22 small signs on land. Nine signs will also be installed on all active Alaska Marine Highway System vessels.
Homer veteran Bill Sheldon recently learned about the trail, and talked about what the trail means. “It’s another thing that honors the veterans, you know, about as much as anything,” he said.
There are currently no other plans for additional expansion.