87R15944 JGH-D     By: Lopez H.C.R. No. 71       CONCURRENT RESOLUTION          WHEREAS, Marcelino Serna was one of the most decorated   military veterans in Texas history, and his heroic actions during   World War I make him a worthy candidate for the Congressional Medal   of Honor, our nation's highest military award; and          WHEREAS, Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1896, Mr. Serna came   to the United States as a young man and spent time in Texas, Kansas,   and Colorado; after the United States entered World War I in 1917,   he enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 20, and after only three   weeks of training, he was shipped overseas with the 355th Infantry,   89th Division; when his superior officers in France learned that he   was not a U.S. citizen, they gave him the opportunity to return   home, but Private Serna chose to stay and fight; and          WHEREAS, Private Serna demonstrated exceptional   resourcefulness and courage on the battlefield; during an   engagement near the French town of St. Mihiel, 12 members of his   unit were hit by fire from an enemy machine gun, and Private Serna   obtained permission from his lieutenant to scout out the gun   emplacement on his own; moving through heavy fire, and surviving   two rounds that were deflected by his helmet, he tossed four hand   grenades into the machine gun nest, killing six of the enemy; he   then took the eight survivors captive; and          WHEREAS, Shortly thereafter, during the Meuse-Argonne   campaign, Private Serna embarked on a second lone scouting mission;   he began by wounding a German sniper with a shot from 200 yards,   then followed the injured man into a trench; firing and hurling   grenades in all directions to make it seem as if he were part of a   larger force, he shot three German soldiers immediately, then   attacked an enemy dugout, felling 26 more and capturing 24; he   single-handedly held the prisoners at gunpoint until other members   of his unit arrived; and          WHEREAS, Private Serna continued to serve in combat until the   end of the war, receiving a wound in each leg, and while he was   recovering in a French hospital, he was presented with the   Distinguished Service Cross, our nation's second highest military   decoration, from the American commander in France, General John   J. Pershing; he also earned the World War I Victory Medal with five   stars, the Victory Medal with three campaign bars, the St. Mihiel   Medal, the Verdun Medal, and two Purple Hearts; he was further   decorated by the governments of France, Italy, and the United   Kingdom, receiving two French Croix de Guerre with Palm Medals, the   French Medaille Militaire, the French Commemorative Medal, the   British Medal of Honor, and the Italian Cross of Merit; and          WHEREAS, After returning to the United States, Mr. Serna   became a U.S. citizen in 1924 and settled in El Paso, where he   worked for the quartermaster at Fort Bliss; he was a charter member   of VFW Post No. 2753 and volunteered with veterans advocacy groups,   and when he died in 1992, he was buried with full military honors at   Fort Bliss; he was the most decorated Texas veteran of World War I,   winning every major military award short of the Congressional Medal   of Honor, and records indicate that he was denied that supreme honor   only because he was a Mexican American immigrant and did not know   enough English to be promoted; and          WHEREAS, Marcelino Serna volunteered to serve our nation in   combat before he was even a citizen, and he stayed to fight when he   might have gone home; his courageous battlefield actions during   World War I have been recognized with a host of illustrious   commendations, and he truly warrants the highest honor that can be   bestowed on a member of the armed forces of the United States; now,   therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to bestow on   Marcelino Serna the Congressional Medal of Honor; and, be it   further          RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward official copies   of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the   secretary of the Navy, to the speaker of the House of   Representatives and the president of the Senate of the United   States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to   Congress with the request that this resolution be officially   entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of   the United States of America.