Highway renamed to honor veterans

Thousands of Iowa veterans who were wounded during wartime are being honored today with the renaming of a stretch of road in central Iowa. Dena Gray-Fisher, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Transportation, saysin honor of Veterans Day, which is being celebrated by the state tomorrow, the Highway 5 Bypass near Des Moines is being renamed the Military Order of the Purple Heart Highway. It includes Highways 69, 65 and Iowa 5. Veterans who are injured in serving the country are awarded the medal known as the Purple Heart. Gray-Fisher says this stretch of road will now be lined with signs to honor recipients of the medal.Gray-Fisher says there is another means by which Iowa veterans can be openly honored for their accomplishments.Veterans can get special military license plates, which recognize things like the Bronze Star, Congressional Medal of Honor, Disabled Veterans and others. About 12-thousand combat-wounded Iowans have won the Purple Heart.