Purple Heart is a powerful and dramatic musical setting written in tribute to composer David Shaffer’s former student LCpl Michael Cifuents who, along with 14 other Marines from the Columbus, Ohio based Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 25thMarines, were killed on August 3, 2005 in a roadside attack in Iraq. The subdued sonorities of the horns are blended with the subtleties of the mallet percussion, creating a compassionate and stirring setting appropriate for any concert setting. An emotional tribute to Michael Cifuentes and members of Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines who were killed on August 3, 2005 in Iraq is now available.