Award
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]
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 consists of the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House, the Adjutant General 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.[3]
On May 18, 2023 the Texas Senate passed Rep. Terry Wilson's HB 4421 by a 31-0 vote to award the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to any Texan who has received the Medal of Honor. The legislation further established three time periods for the award as pre-1955, 1955 to September 10, 2001, and September 11, 2001 to the present date. [1]
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 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. [2]
