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Texas Medal of Honor awarded to fallen Marine

EDINBURG, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry presented the Texas Medal of Honor on Monday to the mother of a Marine who was killed 40 years ago to the day in Vietnam.

Perry came to the hometown of Alfredo “Freddy” Gonzalez to bestow the state’s highest honor on Edinburg’s most revered war hero.

No less than a street, an elementary school and an American Legion post bear his name in Edinburg, as well as the guided missile destroyer Alfredo Gonzalez.

“You gave the most important gift that a mother can give, and that is your son,” Perry said to Dolia Gonzalez. “I thank God that each generation produces Americans like Freddy Gonzalez.”

Hundreds of people attended the ceremony in Cats Stadium, The Monitor reported in its online edition Monday.

Gonzalez grew up picking cotton with his family and played football at Edinburg High School. After graduation he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

He died during his second tour in Vietnam. Gonzalez, a platoon leader, had already been injured by enemy fire, but on Feb. 4, 1968, he held back an enemy advance and destroyed an enemy rocket position before being killed. He was 21.

Gonzalez was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor, in 1969.

The Texas Medal of Honor has been awarded to five servicemen before Gonzalez.