TX HCR115

Directs the governor to posthumously award the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to U.S. Army Sergeant Ramon Garza Gutierrez for his service during World War II

Sergeant Gutierrez, a Del Rio native, enlisted in 1941 at age 18 and served with Company E of the 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, an all-Mexican American unit

During the September 1943 Allied landing at Salerno, Italy, he single-handedly charged and destroyed a German machine gun nest while wounded, using only grenades and a knife in hand-to-hand combat

He was one of only 27 out of 154 Company E soldiers to survive the Rapido River crossing in January 1944 after being captured and escaping by swimming back to Allied lines

Received numerous military honors including the Purple Heart with two clusters, two Silver Star Medals, two Bronze Star Medals, and the Soviet Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Degree; he passed away in 1993 at age 70