Letter to Secretary of the Army John McHugh - Reconsider Medal of Honor for Texan Jim "Maggie" Megellas

Letter

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) today joined several colleagues of the Senate and House of Representatives in sending a letter yesterday to Secretary of the Army John McHugh urging him to reconsider Colleyville resident Army Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Jim "Maggie" Megellas for the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary acts of heroism and bravery at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

During the battle, Megellas and his unit of the 82nd Airborne Division came face-to-face with a Nazi Mark V Panther tank that threatened their mission and would have certainly inflicted hundreds of casualties. Without hesitation, Megellas attacked the tank single-handedly disabling it with one grenade and throwing another inside the top hatch of the tank. Megellas then led his men to Herresbach, Belgium, liberating the town without sustaining one casualty.

For his actions, Megellas was recommended for the Medal of Honor by his executive officer Colonel Edward Sims (then a 1st Lieutenant), but his award was downgraded to the Silver Star. Unfortunately, his Silver Star citation includes no mention of his single-handed destruction of the Nazi tank that saved hundreds of lives.

"We seek the Medal of Honor for Megellas based on "compelling evidence of error' made during the award process in 1945," the letter states. "We are fully aware that the Army has reviewed this World War II case more than once in the past; however, we believe further reconsideration of the award is, in fact, appropriate and warranted. The Army has previously indicated that the "submission of new material and substantive information' would warrant further reconsideration. These are the very circumstances under which we write today. There is new material and substantive information, and the Army has not taken into consideration the full factual record of Megellas' actions that fateful day in 1945."

Read the full text of the letter in PDF format below:
http://petri.house.gov/sites/petri.house.gov/files/images/Megellas%20Letter%20to%20Sec%20%20McHugh%20MOH%20-%20FINAL%20signed%20with%20attachments%20%2814%20NOV%2013%29.pdf

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