This week, Colonel Ed Cruickshank, U.S. Army, Retired, Commander of the Rainbow Chapter of the Order of the Purple Heart, joins host Brandi Higa on the One O‘ahu Podcast to talk about National Purple Heart Day, a recent Purple Heart ceremony at Honolulu Hale, and his time as a running back for the UH football team.
National Purple Heart Day
National Purple Heart Day in 2025 fell on August 7th. It is a day to honor and remember those who were wounded or killed while serving in the U.S. military. The day commemorates the establishment of the Purple Heart medal in 1782.
“It’s very special because, face it, we have a lot of older population and a lot of Purple Hearters are slowly passing away,” explained Colonel Cruickshank. “And we want to make sure if they’re not there, their families are never forgotten. And that’s why doing things like this is very important.”
For more on the Purple Heart Foundation, visit https://purpleheartfoundation.org/
Honolulu as a Purple Heart City
In 2024, Mayor Blangiardi signed Bill 7 into law, designating Honolulu as a “Purple Heart City.” The bill was introduced by Councilmember Augie Tulba and the Honolulu City Council unanimously approved it. During a special ceremony held on the Frank F. Fasi Civic Grounds on Aug. 8, 2025, Mayor Rick Blangiardi unveiled new signs honoring Purple Heart medal recipients, installed at eight locations around the island of Oʻahu, including Honolulu Hale, Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, the Arizona Memorial, and in the vicinity of several military installations or facilities that provide services to veterans.
The full list of sign locations is as follows:
- Arizona Memorial
- Daniel K. Inouye Honolulu International Airport
- Fort Shafter (H-201 westbound offramp)
- Honolulu Hale
- Kāneʻohe Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi (entrance to base on H-3)
- Kapolei Hale
- Pūowaina/National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl
- Tripler Army Medical Center (H-201 eastbound offramp)
Plans are in the works to install additional signs in prominent locations across the island over time.
Once a ‘Bow, always a ‘Bow
Cruickshank was also a running back for the University of Hawai‘i football team in the 1960’s. He was recently invited back onto the field to be honored at the UNLV Military Night game. On this week’s episode of the One O‘ahu Podcast, he goes on to talk about how much bigger, faster, and stronger the players are today versus when he was playing.
“You didn’t have players as big as they are now that can outrun a back,” said Cruickshank with a laugh. “The players now, I can’t even imagine being hit with a guy 300 pounds and he’s running as fast as you are. It’s just mind-boggling how big the players have gotten.”
The 2025 Rainbow Warriors open the season on Aug. 23 against Stanford at the Clarence T. C. Ching Complex. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. Hawai‘i time. The game will be televised on CBS.
