Robin, the Purple Heart was created and made a part of the US award inventory in 1932. It was originally meant to be awarded for merit on the battlefield. Retroactive awards were made based upon citations. Wounds incurred during this prior service were taken into account when a service member was under consideration to receive the medal. After the Legion of Merit was created in 1942, the Purple Heart became a medal awarded exclusively for wounds received in battle. Language specifically allowing for the posthumous awarding of the medal to those killed in action were approved in 1962. This sorta confuses me because I have seen many KIA Purple Hearts awarded during WW2. Perhaps the military was awarding them due to the fact that those KIA were obviously wounded?