Indian River Woodcarvers Club Purple Heart Cane Ceremony

The Navy SEAL Museum was honored to host Purple Heart recipient veterans from every branch of military service on January 20th for the Indian River Woodcarvers Club Purple Heart Cane Ceremony.

The Purple Heart Cane Project is a community outreach in which the Indian River Woodcarvers Club honors the recipients for which it is named with hand-carved personalized canes. Each intricately carved cane displays the history of the individual veteran’s service to his country, including details about service branch, awards earned, and dates of enlistment and discharge. Every cane bears the head of an eagle, no stunning detail spared.

With increasing momentum and numbers annually, the ceremony honored more than 65 veterans this year. 2018, the sixth consecutive year, brought the total number of canes distributed to Purple Heart veterans to almost 300 since the project’s inception.

“This project is something that has just grown and grown,” said Lloyd Lasenby, who heads the project every year. “The reaction from the recipients is something that is very emotional. They are all very grateful.”

Retired Army Major General Wayne Jackson was an honorary guest speaker, along with Navy SEAL Museum Executive Director Rick Kaiser and Craig Holtermann, president of the Indian River Woodcarvers Club.

To learn more about the Indian River Woodcarvers Club, please visit indianriverwoodcarvers.weebly.com