One of the Air Force's most modem cargo aircraft now carries the name and markings of the nation's oldest military decoration.

The Mississippi Air National Guard's 172nd Airlift Wing formally named one of its C-17 Globemaster Ills "The Spirit of the Purple Heart" during a ceremony in Jackson, Miss., Nov. 20.

The name fits: The 172nd routinely flies aeromedical evacuation missions from Iraq to Germany and the United States, transporting more than 19,000 wounded or ill patients since 2005.

Current and former service personnel, their families and political dignitaries attended the dedication ceremony, which featured patriotic speeches and the unveiling of special new nose art on aircraft No. 33113.

Maj. Gen. Harold Cross, Mississippi adjutant general, told those gathered that the C-17 will serve as a flying tribute to the nation's combat wounded.

"We will sign the vivid air with your honor as this Purple Heart slices through the sky... and we will take care of our wounded, always, because they have taken care of us," he said.

The words echoed from the stage, set inside a hangar. Outside, a slight breeze unfurled dozens of American flags held by members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) and other veterans' organizations.

Tech. Sgt. Bobby Kinabrew, the aircraft's crew chief and a driving force behind the aircraft's naming, said the unit worked with the MOPH on the tribute.

He said he was inspired, in part, by his uncle, a retired Army sergeant major who earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam.

After the chain of command approved the name, personnel from the unit and the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, worked for two days using screen-printing inks and stencils to paint a Purple Heart over the aircraft's door.

"It looks wonderful in my eyes," Kinabrew said. "I hope it honors all of the recipients of the Purple Heart."

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