Texas Medal of Honor Memorial "Facts"

Texas Medal of Honor Facts

Of the 149 living Medal of Honor recipients, 12 live in Texas and most of them were born in Texas.
During the Civil War, two Medals of Honor were awarded for action in Texas. During the Indian Wars, 64 Medals of Honor were awarded for heroism "on the ground" in Texas.
Audie Murphy of Kingston attempted to enlist in the Marines at age 17 and was told his slight five-foot 110-pound frame didn't measure up. Murphy was, however, accepted by the Army to become the most decorated hero of World War II.
During World War II, 14 soldiers of the Texas National Guard received Medals of Honor including Jim Logan of McNeil and Silvestre Herrera of El Paso.
Although 70 Medals of Honor are accredited to Texas, the Medals of a dozen Texas-born recipients have been accredited to other states.
Milton M. Holland was the first Texan to receive the Medal of Honor and the only one from the Civil War.
In February 1948, the Fort Worth Army Airfield was renamed Carswell Air Force Base in the honor of Medal of Honor recipient Major Horace S. Carswell, Jr. of Fort Worth..
The Medal of Honor awarded to Eli Whiteley of Florence can be found at Texas A&M University Corps Center. Whiteley is a 1941 graduate of Texas A&M.

Medal of Honor Facts

In 1990 the Congress of the United States recognized organizations striving to foster public appreciation and recognition of Medal of Honor Recipients and proclaimed March 25 as National Medal of Honor Day.
More than half of the living Medal of Honor recipients received their Medals for service in World War II and the Korean War.
The average age of the living recipients is 69 years. The youngest is Maj. Gordon R. Roberts of Ohio; the only recipient serving in active duty at age 51 and the oldest is John W. Finn of California at age 92.
Of the millions of U.S. military personnel who have served since the Civil War, only 3,437 have received the Medal of Honor. Nineteen have received the medal twice.
Over one hundred years after risking his life at San Juan Hill Theodore Roosevelt became the first President to receive the Medal of Honor. It was awarded in 2001.
The most recent action for which Medals of Honor were awarded occurred in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993. Knowing that they faced almost certain death, Army Delta Sergeants Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon volunteered to rescue the downed crewmen of a Blackhawk helicopter. Both Shughart and Gordon were killed.

Texas Medal of Honor Recipients

Texas Medal of Honor Memorial sculpture by Doyle Glass Bronze Medal of Honor Sculpture by Doyle Glass

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