What was the surprise at the Pahrump Purple Heart Day Ceremony this year?

Despite the hot and sometimes windy conditions on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 7, area residents were not deterred, turning out in force for the annual Pahrump Purple Heart Day Sundown Ceremony.

It was standing-room-only as Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter #15 member Lt. Col. Dr. Tom Waters welcomed the crowd, which included veterans, civilians, members of Southern Nye County Search and Rescue, multiple county officials, first responders and more, all coming together to share in the somber celebration of those who have been injured or lost their lives in the course of military service.

This year’s Purple Heart Day event was an especially exciting one for Waters, too, as he had helped to arrange a surprise for one of the valley’s biggest veteran proponents, B.J. Hetrick-Irwin.

Founder and director of the Nevada Silver Tappers and Ms. Senior Golden Years, Hetrick-Irwin has been supporting veterans and military causes through her organizations for decades. Her staunch patriotism had earned her previous recognition as first a major and then a lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army and on August 7, she was officially promoted.

“B.J. Hetrick-Irwin celebrated her 100th birthday on June 19 and in recognition of her commitment to serve our veteran community, Col. Ken Gonzales, the commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter #730, presented her with an honorary army promotion to colonel,” Waters detailed. “Upon receiving this honor, all attending veterans in the grades lieutenant colonel and below stood and rendered a salute to honorary Col. B.J. Hetrick-Irwin, which she proudly returned. The smiles, cheers and the round of applause were well deserved.”

Though obviously overwhelmed with emotion, Hetrick-Irwin took a moment to speak with the Pahrump Valley Times. She offered a humble yet beaming smile of gratitude as she remarked, “I couldn’t believe it, such an honor!”

Acting as master of ceremonies for the Purple Heart Day Sundown Ceremony was Frank Carbone, a U.S. Air Force veteran and former Nye County commissioner. Carbone introduced each of the commanders and commandants of the attending military organizations and Pastor John Davidson provided the opening prayer. The Nye County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard presented the colors while the attendees’ voices wove together in recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Curtin lent his voice once again to sing the national anthem while former Ms. Senior Golden Years USA Marla Quercia provided sign language interpretation.

Proclamations recognizing Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025 as Purple Heart Day in Nye County and the town of Pahrump, both of which are Purple Heart entities, were then presented to representatives of each of the four veterans’ groups that take part in the ceremony every year, including the DAV Chapter #15, Marine Corps League Detachment #1199, American Legion Post #22 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #10054. Nye County commissioner and U.S. Army veteran Bruce Jabbour had the honor of presenting these while Nevada Assemblyman and Minority Leader Greg Hafen II bestowed similar proclamations from himself and Assemblyman Bert Gurr, along with Gov. Joe Lombardo.

“August 7 is designated as National Purple Heart Day, a solemn occasion to recognize the men and women who have sacrificed greatly, and in many cases, paid the ultimate price in service to our nation,” Hafen read in part from one of the proclamations. “[We] proclaim today that Nevadans are respectfully requested on this day to pause in solemn gratitude to honor the extraordinary sacrifice made by these brave men and women awarded the Purple Heart, to express enduring support for them and their families and reaffirm our shared commitment to remembering their courage, uplifting their legacy and rejoicing together as a community.”

ID/Dog Tag and wreath laying ceremonies were incorporated into the sundown ceremony, the first conducted by Maj. Tim Callahan and the second by Sgt. Richard Goldstein and Petty Officer 1st Class Kathleen Chavez together. There was a reading from Waters of the poem “A Soldier Died Today” and guest remarks from American Legion Post #22 Commander Melina Mills and Gonzales as well.

“This is a special occasion, August 7, Purple Heart Day. We want to honor all of those fallen heroes, all of those who have been wounded in action and all of those who have had difficulty surviving the experiences they’ve endured during a combat situation,” Gonzales told the audience. “I also want to respect and recognize the families… They are left behind to take care of the home, to take care of the kids, to take care of the bills, while you are off someplace working for Uncle Sam. So, I think they are certainly to be applauded.”

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com