KILGORE, Texas — All it took to convince Kilgore Mayor Ronnie E. Spradlin III to start the process of becoming a Purple Heart City was half of a question from one concerned citizen.
"Vicki Raymond heard about the program at another town, looked into it, and found out you just have to do a proclamation declaring yourself a Purple Heart City," Spradlin said. "She had a long spiel prepared to try to talk us into it, and we didn't need the spiel, we were on board from where we heard the honoring our veterans and our Purple Heart recipients."
The city approved the Purple Heart designation on Sept. 4 and got to work putting up signs and recognition around town that would meet the standards to become a Purple Heart City, but Raymond and the community didn't stop here.
"The difficulty is, it seems there's no national list of Purple Heart recipients," Spradlin said. "So we've just had to do a lot of detective work. Vicki's called families and we looked up names and contacts, it's quite a network."
To honor Kilgore's Purple Heart recipients, Raymond and organizations like the Daughters of the American Republic found as many names as possible to honor through community outreach. Together, they compiled a list of hundreds of veterans to celebrate.
"We went to families that had soldiers in the family, or people that served and they all knew if their family members were Purple Heart recipients and then someone would know someone else that was, and it's been a lot of outreach through every avenue we can find," Spradlin said.
It all paid off when the city was proclaimed a Purple Heart City by Purple Heart Chapter 1513, Tuesday, Sept. 24.
"I don't know anything that can make me more proud of Kilgore," Spradlin said.
The city held a council meeting, reading the proclamation aloud Tuesday in front of veterans and Purple Heart recipients from the city.
"Kilgore is a very patriotic, all American town," Spradlin said. "We're just proud to be a part of that national program recognizing Purple Heart recipients."