The other day I was driving through Georgetown, Tx. + at every entrance to the town they have a placard of Washington as epitomised on the Purple Heart Decoration. + the caption that Georgetown was the 1st Texas town to have a Purple Heart recipient. I must confess that my initial thought upon seeing that was somewhat irreverent. I recalled the opening lines in Kurt Vonnegut's novel "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" r/e " And there walking across times square was Elliot Rosewater with a purple heart on."

Addendum, please don't misunderstand me. The earning of the "forgot to duck" decoration is no laughing matter; I have 2 good friends that have earned it. I was only struck by the humor of Vonnegut's comment after seeing the ostentatious display of the signs all over town.