Bill Text: TX HCR105 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Directing the governor of the State of Texas to award the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to retired U.S. Air Force Colonel James Edwin Ray.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-07 - Referred to Defense & Veterans' Affairs [HCR105 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HCR105-Introduced.html
87R24355 JGH-D | ||
By: Dean | H.C.R. No. 105 |
|
||
WHEREAS, The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor was established | ||
to recognize gallant and intrepid service by a member of the state | ||
or federal military forces, and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel | ||
James Edwin Ray proved himself a deserving recipient of this | ||
prestigious commendation with his heroic actions during the Vietnam | ||
War; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born in Longview in 1941, James Ray graduated with | ||
honors from Conroe High School and went on to attend Texas A&M | ||
University, where he graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in | ||
English, the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Corps of Cadets, and | ||
a commission in the U.S. Air Force through the ROTC program; and | ||
WHEREAS, After earning his pilot's wings at Vance Air Force | ||
Base in 1965, Lieutenant Ray trained on the F-105 Thunderchief | ||
fighter-bomber at Nellis AFB and earned his first assignments as an | ||
F-105 pilot with the 334th and 336th Tactical Fighter Squadrons at | ||
Seymour Johnson AFB; he was deployed to Southeast Asia in April | ||
1966, when he joined the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat | ||
Royal Thai AFB in Thailand; he flew 10 extremely hazardous missions | ||
over North Vietnam, and on his 11th mission on May 8, 1966, he was | ||
forced to eject and was captured by the enemy; he spent more than | ||
six years and nine months as a prisoner of war in North Vietnamese | ||
prison camps, including the infamously brutal "Hanoi Hilton"; and | ||
WHEREAS, During his captivity, Lieutenant Ray displayed | ||
remarkable fortitude and determination in the face of torture, | ||
starvation, and isolation; in spite of this treatment, he and his | ||
fellow prisoners avoided mental breakdown by devising clever ways | ||
to stay in touch with each other, by tapping out coded messages from | ||
cell to cell, or by hiding letters in an empty toothpaste container | ||
behind a brick in a wall; Lieutenant Ray and the other prisoners | ||
also drew strength and encouragement from memorizing and reciting | ||
verses from the Bible; and | ||
WHEREAS, After the POWs were released in February 1973, this | ||
brave American took time to recover in the hospital and then resumed | ||
his air force career; at the rank of captain, he became an | ||
instructor pilot at Holloman AFB, and after completing Air Command | ||
and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, he went on to serve with the 339th | ||
Fighter Squadron and the 347th Fighter Wing, at the U.S. Air Force | ||
headquarters, and as air attaché to Rome; he was then commander of | ||
the 3300th Technical Training Wing at Keesler AFB until his | ||
retirement at the rank of colonel on December 31, 1990; and | ||
WHEREAS, Colonel Ray's commendations include the Silver | ||
Star, the Legion of Merit with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze | ||
Star with valor device and bronze oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart | ||
with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal, and | ||
the Air Medal, among many others; and | ||
WHEREAS, James Ray's skill and bravery as a pilot and his | ||
unswerving resilience distinguish him as a warrior of peerless | ||
courage and patriotism, and it is indeed appropriate that he be | ||
honored with the highest military award granted by the state where | ||
he was born; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby direct the governor of the State of Texas to award the Texas | ||
Legislative Medal of Honor to James Edwin Ray in recognition of his | ||
valiant service during the Vietnam War. |