Bill Text: TX HCR110 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Directing the governor of the State of Texas to posthumously award the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to Lieutenant General (Brevet) Everett Selden Simpson.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-22 - Referred to Defense & Veterans' Affairs [HCR110 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR110-Introduced.html
| 83R22774 NEB-D | ||
| By: Smithee | H.C.R. No. 110 | |
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| WHEREAS, The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor was established | ||
| to recognize gallant and intrepid service by a Texan in the state or | ||
| federal military forces, and through his courageous actions in | ||
| France during World War II, Lieutenant General (Brevet) Everett | ||
| Selden Simpson proved himself a worthy candidate for this | ||
| prestigious honor; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Born in Clarendon on February 17, 1915, Selden | ||
| Simpson graduated from Amarillo High School and enlisted in the | ||
| Texas National Guard in 1933; he earned his bachelor's degree from | ||
| The University of Texas at Austin and completed his law degree at | ||
| the University of Colorado in 1940; when the 36th Infantry Division | ||
| was mobilized in November 1940, he was commissioned a second | ||
| lieutenant and left his law practice to become platoon leader of | ||
| Company M, 142nd Infantry Regiment; and | ||
| WHEREAS, General Simpson would become one of the few ranking | ||
| officers to serve in the 36th Infantry Division throughout World | ||
| War II, participating in every major engagement of its 19 months of | ||
| European combat; he distinguished himself in service in North | ||
| Africa and attended a British intelligence officers' school in | ||
| Cairo as well as the Fifth Army Leadership and Battle Training | ||
| course; as a regimental intelligence officer, he took part in the | ||
| division's invasion of Italy in 1943, landing in Salerno in | ||
| September and then in the Anzio perimeter the next spring; and | ||
| WHEREAS, During the invasion of southern France, General | ||
| Simpson assumed command of the 3rd Battalion, 142nd Infantry | ||
| Regiment, when its commander was wounded; given orders to clear the | ||
| enemy from the town of Remiremont, he earned the enduring gratitude | ||
| of the French by liberating the city in a swift yet methodical way, | ||
| taking the city street by street to avoid massive civilian | ||
| casualties and the destruction of homes; he remained in the city | ||
| until September 25 to protect a crossing over the Moselle River and | ||
| he helped two other battalion leaders to break a counterattack by | ||
| the Germans; and | ||
| WHEREAS, On September 28, 1944, at the beginning of the Rhine | ||
| Campaign against entrenched German forces, General Simpson led an | ||
| assault platoon in an attack on the mountainous area near | ||
| Remiremont; although they came under intense enemy fire from both | ||
| flanks, General Simpson established a command post and moved from | ||
| company to company to organize positions and point out sectors of | ||
| fire; while advancing, he was struck by an exploding mortar shell, | ||
| but despite severe wounds, he refused to be evacuated, insisting | ||
| that other injured men be removed first; he continued to shout | ||
| orders and encourage his soldiers to push forward even as two men | ||
| were assisting him to the battalion aid station, and while his | ||
| painful wounds were being dressed, he issued plans for the | ||
| forthcoming attack and maintained his focus on the needs of his men; | ||
| for his extraordinary actions on that day, he was awarded the | ||
| Distinguished Service Cross; and | ||
| WHEREAS, This remarkable Texan returned from an Italian | ||
| hospital in January 1945 as a lieutenant colonel and resumed | ||
| command of the 3rd Battalion; one month later, when communication | ||
| capabilities faltered during an attack on German forces, he crossed | ||
| the river under enemy observation and direct fire to reach forward | ||
| elements and guide them, and then returned by the same hazardous | ||
| route; his resolute leadership in that battle earned him the Silver | ||
| Star; that March, he led a brilliant attack on a strongly fortified | ||
| hill in the Siegfried Line defenses, amid heavy small arms fire, and | ||
| his troops killed 57 Germans, captured 45, and forced the remainder | ||
| to flee; General Simpson was awarded the Bronze Star, and his | ||
| outstanding service brought him numerous other decorations, among | ||
| them the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster, | ||
| the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with six Stars | ||
| and Arrowhead, and the French Croix de Guerre with Star; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Deeply loyal to the "Fighting 36th Infantry | ||
| Division," General Simpson declined the opportunity to serve in the | ||
| Judge Advocate General Corps after the war; he assisted in the | ||
| reorganization of the 36th Infantry Division, Texas National Guard, | ||
| and was appointed as Regimental Executive Officer; in 1949, he | ||
| became regimental commander of the 142nd Infantry and was promoted | ||
| to colonel, and he completed Command and General Staff College at | ||
| Fort Leavenworth; he became the first commander of the newly | ||
| constituted 1st Battle Group, 142nd Infantry when it was | ||
| reorganized under the Pentomic concept in 1959 and continued to | ||
| advance through the ranks, eventually serving with distinction as | ||
| commander of the 36th (T-Patch) Division until the reorganization | ||
| of the Texas Army National Guard in 1968; at that time, he became | ||
| commander of the Arrowhead Emergency Operations Headquarters, and | ||
| he then assumed command of Headquarters Augmentation, State HQ and | ||
| HQ Detachment; he was appointed commander of Base Units Command in | ||
| 1971 and was promoted to the rank of Brevet Lieutenant General on | ||
| his retirement from the Texas National Guard on October 31, 1973; | ||
| having benefited the guard in myriad capacities throughout his | ||
| career, he continued to demonstrate his dedication as a member of | ||
| the National Guard Association of Texas and as a member of the Texas | ||
| Guard Legislative Task Force; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Following his discharge from active duty, General | ||
| Simpson resumed the practice of law in Amarillo with the firm of | ||
| Simpson, Clayton, and Fullingim and, over time, became a mentor for | ||
| many young lawyers; he also took a leadership role in the community | ||
| and served as a director of the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, | ||
| president of the Amarillo Tri-State Fair Association, director of | ||
| the Potter-Randall County Child Welfare Society, chair of the | ||
| Greater Amarillo Chapter of the American National Red Cross, and | ||
| president of the American Legion Hanson Post No. 54; additionally, | ||
| he was active with the United Way in the 1950s; General Simpson | ||
| passed away on August 25, 1999, in Amarillo; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Lieutenant General Everett Selden Simpson served | ||
| his country and his state with incomparable devotion, and during | ||
| World War II, he risked his life on numerous occasions to save the | ||
| lives of his fellow soldiers and advance their mission; his | ||
| remarkable heroism is most assuredly deserving of this state's | ||
| supreme military award; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby direct the governor of the State of Texas to posthumously | ||
| award the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to Lieutenant General | ||
| (Brevet) Everett Selden Simpson in recognition of his valiant | ||
| actions in World War II. | ||
