Texas Legislative Medal of Honor

The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor, commonly referred to as the Texas Medal of Honor, is the highest military decoration that can be conferred to a service member of the Texas Military Forces.[1] It can also be conferred to service members of the United States Armed Forces.[2] Subsequent decorations are conferred by a gold twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem device.[2] A lapel button is also conferred with this decoration.[2]

Texas Legislative Medal of Honor
TypeMilitary decoration
Awarded forGallantry
DescriptionThe neck ribbon is green with white stars, and the medal features an image of the reverse of the Seal of Texas, including Vince's Bridge, cannon of the Battle of Gonzales, Alamo Mission in San Antonio and the six historical flags of Texas.
Presented byTexas Legislature
and
Texas Military Department
EligibilityTexas Military Forces and
United States Armed Forces
StatusCurrently issued
EstablishedMay 3, 1963
First awarded1997
Last awarded2018
Total13
Texas Legislative Medal of Honor medal ribbon
Precedence
Next (higher)None (highest)
Next (lower)Lone Star Medal of Valor

Eligibility

The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor shall be conferred to a member of the Texas Military Forces or United States Armed Forces (effective June 20, 2003) designated by concurrent resolution of the legislature who voluntarily performs a deed of personal bravery or self-sacrifice involving risk of life that is so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the person for gallantry and intrepidity above the person's comrades. Decoration shall be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit. Decoration is only conferred on incontestable proof of performance of the deed.[2]

Initially, the law permitted one person to be selected from various nominees for the decoration by a 5-member nominating committee (effective June 20, 2003) every two years since 1997. The nominating committee consist of the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Adjutant General of the Texas Military Forces and the heads of the defense and veterans affairs committee in both chambers of the legislature or their designated representative. The person selected must then be approved by the governor to receive the decoration:

(d) The legislature by concurrent resolution may direct the governor to confer the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to a person nominated by the nominating committee. The committee chairs serving on the nominating committee shall jointly prepare a concurrent resolution directing the governor to confer the medal to a person nominated. The legislature may direct the medal to be conferred only during a

In 2013, HB 1589 was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry amending the statute for the bestowal of two Texas Legislative Medals of Honor each legislative session, one for service pre-1956 and one for service post-1957.[3]

Authority

The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor was authorized by the Fifty-eighth Texas Legislature in Senate Bill Number 279 and approved by the Governor John Connally on 3 May 1963, effective 23 August 1963.[2]

Description

Medal

The medal pendant is gold-finished bronze, 1-1/4 of an inch in diameter. In the center of the pendant is a silver shield with the Alamo in the upper half. The lower half of the shield is divided into two parts, with the cannon of the first battle of the Texas Revolution at Gonzales in the wearer's right portion and the Battle of San Jacinto Vince's Bridge in the wearer's left portion. An enameled wreath of live oak circles the shield on the wearer's right and olive on the wearer's left. Circling the shield, wearer's right to left, are the unfurled flags of Mexico, Spain, France, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States, enameled in the respective colors of the flags. Above the shield and between the French and Texas flag is a raised lone star within a circle. Below the shield is a scroll with the inscription "TEXAS MEDAL OF HONOR." The reverse side of the pendant is blank. The pendant is suspended by a metal loop attached to a green moiré silk neckband, 1-3/8 of an inch wide and 24 inches long, behind a hexagonal pad in the center made of matching ribbon. On the hexagonal pad, integral to the ribbon, are six white five-pointed stars in the form of two equilateral triangles, points up, one above the other. The green ribbon color is the same as the green color used in the United States Army's Mexican Border Service Medal.[2]

Device

Device

A gold twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem is conferred for second and succeeding decorations. Oak leaf clusters will be worn centered on the pad of the neckband and centered on the service ribbon, with the stem of the leaves pointing to the wearer's right. A maximum of three clusters will be worn.[2]

Lapel button

A lapel button, in the form of an enameled replica of the service ribbon, 1/8 of an inch in height and 21/32 of an inch in width is conferred with this decoration. The Texas Medal of Honor and Texas Medal of Valor are the only decorations with lapel buttons.[2]

Recipients
Date

conferred

 Service Member Abbreviated Citation Texas Military Unit Command Conflict/Event Ref
1997 James Logan First Texas Medal of Honor recipient; undertook heroic acts to halt a German counterattack 141st Infantry Regiment DOD Operation Avalanche [4]
1999 Jack Knight Single-handedly destroyed two Imperial Japanese pillboxes; was killed by grenade while attacking a third pillbox 124th Cavalry Regiment DOD Burma Road assault [5]
2001 Roy Benavidez Voluntarily entered a combat zone; saved the lives of at least eight men; shot 7 times, stabbed twice, 28 fragmentation wounds Texas native; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Cambodia rescue mission [6]
2003 Mode Etheredge Took command after CO was killed; while wounded led unit over 700 yards under fire; achieved unit objective Texas native; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Battle of Anzio [7]
2005 Robert Edlin Led 4 Rangers through a minefield, captured 4 Krupp K5 guns and 800 German soldiers Texas citizen; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Battle for Brest [8]
2007 Alfredo Gonzalez Saved 1 Marine; while wounded, single-handedly destroyed Viet Cong position; was killed attacking additional positions Texas native; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Battle of Huế [9]
2009 Pedro Cano Single-handedly destroyed nine Nazi machine-gun positions Texas citizen; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Battle of Hürtgen Forest [10]
2011 Roy Cisneros Single-handedly charged a fortified enemy position; killed during assault Texas native; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Quảng Trị Province patrol [11]
2013 Darryn Andrews Killed saving 3 soldiers during IED and RPG attack Texas citizen; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Paktika Province patrol [12]
2013 Audie Murphy Single-handedly halted a tank attack; killed or wounded fifty German soldiers; launched a counterattack while wounded Texas native; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Colmar Pocket [13]
2015 Chris Kyle Served four tours of duty; survived six IEDs and two gunshot wounds; single-handedly killed at least 150 enemy combatants Texas native; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Operation Iraqi Freedom [14]
2015 William Dyess Survived the Bataan Death March; organized the only large-scale escape of prisoners of war in the Pacific Theater Texas native; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Battle of Bataan [15]
2018 Travis Watkins Saved 30 soldiers; fought to the death while paralyzed from the waist down Texas citizen; not in Texas Military unit at time of citation. DOD Battle of Yongsan [16]

See also

References
  1. "State Awards". TMD.
  2. "Joint Force Texas Regulation (1-07)" (PDF). Texas Military Department. August 1, 2009.
  3. "Texas Legislature Online - 83(R) Actions for HB 1589". Capitol.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  4. "James Logan". Texas State Preservation Board.
  5. "Jack Llewellyn Knight". Texas State Preservation Board.
  6. "Roy P. Benavidez". Texas State Preservation Board.
  7. "M.B. Etheredge". Texas State Preservation Board.
  8. "Robert Thomas Edlin". Texas State Preservation Board.
  9. "Alfredo (Freddy) Gonzalez". Texas State Preservation Board.
  10. "Pedro Cano". Texas State Preservation Board.
  11. "Roy Cisneros". Texas State Preservation Board.
  12. "Darryn Andrews". Texas Military Department.
  13. "Audie Murphy". Texas State Preservation Board.
  14. "Chris Kyle". Texas State Preservation Board.
  15. "William Edwin Dyess". Texas State Preservation Board.
  16. "Travis Watkins". Texas State Preservation Board.
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