Bill Text: TX HCR145 | 2011-2012 | 82nd 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.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-04 - Referred to Defense & Veterans' Affairs [HCR145 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HCR145-Introduced.html
82R26450 BPG-D | ||
By: Smithee | H.C.R. No. 145 |
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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 82nd 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. |