H.C.R. No. 121
 
 
 
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor was established
  to honor gallant and intrepid service by a member of the state or
  federal military forces, and through his courageous actions in
  Vietnam, Sergeant Alfredo "Freddy" Gonzalez distinguished himself
  as a worthy recipient of this prestigious honor; and
         WHEREAS, Born May 23, 1946, in Edinburg and a graduate of
  Edinburg High School, Sergeant Gonzalez enlisted in the U.S. Marine
  Corps in May 1965; after his first tour of duty in Vietnam, he was
  chosen to train new marines for guerilla warfare; and
         WHEREAS, A few months later, Sergeant Gonzalez learned of an
  ambush in which men who had served under him had been killed;
  impelled by a strong sense of duty to his fellow marines and to his
  country, he volunteered for a second tour in Vietnam; and
         WHEREAS, When, at the end of January 1968, North Vietnamese
  and Viet Cong troops launched the massive Tet Offensive, Sergeant
  Gonzalez and his platoon were ordered to Hue to relieve the pressure
  on that city; en route to Hue, the platoon's convoy was hit by heavy
  fire on several occasions; during one such encounter, Sergeant
  Gonzalez saw an injured marine lying in the road ahead and ran
  through enemy fire to carry the man to cover, receiving
  fragmentation wounds in the rescue; and
         WHEREAS, With the column halted by withering fire from a
  fortified machine-gun bunker, Sergeant Gonzalez proceeded to guide
  his men to a protective dike; he then moved out onto a road being
  raked by the gun and destroyed the bunker with hand grenades; later,
  on February 3, Sergeant Gonzalez was seriously wounded but
  continued to refuse medical treatment and to lead his men in their
  attack; and
         WHEREAS, During fighting in Hue on February 4, his platoon of
  some 35 troops was again pinned down by a ferocious barrage; telling
  his unit to stay behind shelter, Sergeant Gonzalez moved forward
  aggressively with hand grenades and small antitank rockets, firing
  numerous rounds against enemy emplacements; and
         WHEREAS, Entering a church, where the North Vietnamese were
  heavily fortified, he succeeded in suppressing virtually all of
  their fire; before the last of it could be silenced, however, he was
  mortally wounded; and
         WHEREAS, Because he succeeded in destroying so many North
  Vietnamese positions, Sergeant Gonzalez was credited with saving
  the lives of the men in his platoon; the following year, in
  consequence of his extraordinary and selfless action, he was
  posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the only marine
  in combat during the Tet Offensive to receive that award; and
         WHEREAS, For those with whom he served, the heroism displayed
  by Sergeant Gonzalez was completely in character; "it seemed like
  he was everywhere all the time," one remembered; "he was always
  there in the front, never in the back . . . he was always there for
  us"; and
         WHEREAS, Among the awards subsequently conferred on Sergeant
  Gonzalez were three Purple Hearts, four Presidential Unit
  Citations, and a Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, National
  Defense Medal, and Cold War Certificate; in addition, he was the
  posthumous recipient of two South Vietnamese decorations--the
  Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with gold palm and star and the Vietnam
  Service Medal with four bronze stars; in 1996, the U.S. Navy
  commissioned a new guided missile-destroyer in his honor; and
         WHEREAS, Through his unhesitating selflessness and his
  unfaltering devotion to duty, honor, and his country, Sergeant
  Alfredo Gonzalez embodied the highest ideals of the armed service,
  and he most assuredly merits the award of this state's supreme
  military medal; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas
  hereby posthumously confer the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor on
  Sergeant Alfredo "Freddy" Gonzalez in recognition of his heroic
  service and express to his family its deepest appreciation on
  behalf of all his fellow Texans; and, be it further
         RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
  prepared for the family of Sergeant Gonzalez as an expression of
  highest regard by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate.
 
  Pena
 
 
Craddick Gattis Miles
 
Allen Geren Miller
 
Alonzo Giddings Moreno
 
Anchia Gonzales Morrison
 
Anderson Gonzalez Toureilles Mowery
 
Aycock Goolsby Murphy
 
Bailey Guillen Naishtat
 
Berman Haggerty Noriega
 
Bohac Hamilton O'Day
 
Bolton Hancock Oliveira
 
Bonnen Hardcastle Olivo
 
Branch Harless Orr
 
Brown of Kaufman Harper-Brown Ortiz, Jr.
 
Brown of Brazos Hartnett Otto
 
Burnam Heflin Parker
 
Callegari Hernandez Patrick
 
Castro Herrero Paxton
 
Chavez Hilderbran Pena
 
Chisum Hill Phillips
 
Christian Hochberg Pickett
 
Cohen Hodge Pierson
 
Coleman Homer Pitts
 
Cook of Navarro Hopson Puente
 
Cook of Colorado Howard of Fort Bend Quintanilla
 
Corte Howard of Travis Raymond
 
Crabb Hughes Riddle
 
Creighton Isett Ritter
 
Crownover Jackson Rodriguez
 
Darby Jones Rose
 
Davis of Harris Keffer Smith of Tarrant
 
Davis of Dallas King of Parker Smith of Harris
 
Delisi King of Taylor Smithee
 
Deshotel King of Zavala Solomons
 
Driver Kolkhorst Strama
 
Dukes Krusee Straus
 
Dunnam Kuempel Swinford
 
Dutton Latham Talton
 
Eiland Laubenberg Taylor
 
Eissler Leibowitz Thompson
 
Elkins Lucio III Truitt
 
England Macias Turner
 
Escobar Madden Van Arsdale
 
Farabee Mallory Caraway Vaught
 
Farias Martinez Veasey
 
Farrar Martinez Fischer Villarreal
 
Flores McCall Vo
 
Flynn McClendon West
 
Frost McReynolds Woolley
 
Gallego Menendez Zedler
 
Garcia Merritt Zerwas
 
 
 
Averitt Hegar Shapiro
 
Brimer Hinojosa Shapleigh
 
Carona Jackson Uresti
 
Deuell Janek Van de Putte
 
Duncan Lucio Watson
 
Ellis Nelson Wentworth
 
Eltife Nichols West
 
Estes Ogden Whitmire
 
Fraser Patrick Williams
 
Gallegos Seliger Zaffirini
 
Harris    
 
 
  Dewhurst, President of the Senate
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.C.R. No. 121 was adopted by the House on May
  23, 2007, by a non-record vote.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.C.R. No. 121 was adopted by the Senate on May
  26, 2007, by a viva-voce vote.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor