– To folks in the city of Wheeling, at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, Walmart and elsewhere around our region who have worked to help designate parking spaces near their operations for the Purple Heart Parking Project — a “true salute to those who served” and a program that has been sweeping across West Virginia and beyond.

Wally McMasters, commander of VFW Post 4442 in Wheeling, helped spearhead the project. “Last July, I was going through the parking lot at Walmart, and I noticed that an older gentleman with a Purple Heart license plate on his truck was parked illegally,” McMasters said. “I said ‘Buddy, why don’t you park in a handicapped spot?’ And he said, ‘I’m not handicapped. I’m just old, and I’ve got war wounds.'”

That led to McMasters and others meeting with area business and community leaders to initiate the program.

Thank you, Mr. McMasters, for making this happen.