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 The Texas Military Forces (TXMF) are the principal instrument through which the Texas Military Department (TMD) executes security policy for Texas, which has the second-largest List of states and territories of the United States by population, po ...

. It can also be conferred to service members of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. Subsequent decorations are conferred by a gold twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem device. A lapel button is also conferred with this decoration.

Eligibility

The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor shall be conferred to a member of the

(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. 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 consists of the Lieutenant Governor, the

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

, the

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

of the Texas Military Forces and the chairs of the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee and the Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives. The law reads in part: ''(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.

Authority

The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor was authorized by the Fifty-eighth Texas Legislature in Senate Bill Number 279 by Senator Babe Schwartz and was approved by the Governor

John Connally John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician. He served as the 39th governor of Texas and as the 61st United States secretary of the Treasury. He began his career as a Democrat and later became a Republic ...

on May 3, 1963, effective August 23, 1963. The first recipient was not awarded until 1997 when Representative Tommy Merritt discovered that the award existed and had never been awarded. Senator Jerry Patterson, then the chair of the Veteran Affairs and Military Installations Committee, assisted in the process of selecting the first recipient and creating a process for the further awarding of the medal.

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 The Battle of San Jacinto ( es, Batalla de San Jacinto), fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Pasadena, Texas, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engage ...

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 The Mexican Border Service Medal was a U.S. service medal established by an Act of Congress on July 9, 1918. It was awarded for service between May 9, 1916 and March 24, 1917, or with the Mexican Border Patrol between January 1, 1916 to April ...

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.

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 The Texas Medal of Valor, officially the Lone Star Medal of Valor, is the second highest military decoration that can be conferred to a service member of the Texas Military Forces. It can also be conferred to service members of the United States A ...

are the only decorations with lapel buttons.

Recipients

References

{{Reflist

External links

Texas Legislative Medal of Honor

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Texas Military Department Texas Military Forces