The Texas VLB Recognizes the Heroism of Medal of Honor Recipient James M. Logan
On September 9th, the Veterans Land Board remembers the valor of TSGT James M. Logan, who heroically stormed the beach in 1943 at Salerno, Italy, where he single handedly took on German machine-gun nests and snipers. At age 15, he began training with the Texas National Guard in the 36th Infantry Division, based out of Camp Bowie in Fort Worth, and headed to Europe at age 23, when they were activated for Army duty.
In the assault on Salerno, Logan was in the first wave of soldiers to reach the beach. After establishing a position 800 yards from the water, he found himself trapped with fellow soldiers by German machine gun fire from above a stone wall 200 yards ahead. Risking almost certain death, he sprinted the length of two football fields, killing three escaping Germans on his way. Once he reached the machine gun nest, he killed the two gunners and took over their gun, killing escaping Germans with their own weapon. He also captured a Nazi officer and private while they attempted to escape.
Later that morning, he stormed a sniper’s den 150 yards ahead of his men. The sniper was picking off men on his team. He ran the distance, shot the lock off the door and killed the sniper as he attempted to escape.
For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. However, Logan’s story didn’t end there. As the Allied Forces marched on Rome, they needed to take the Italian city of Velletri, the last German stronghold protecting the capital city. In the battle for Velletri, he captured 15 Germans and killed 25, and then was wounded by shrapnel as he carried a wounded teammate to medical care. He earned the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross, only because the Army had a policy not to award the Medal of Honor twice to the same individual.
In addition to the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Purple Heart, Logan received two Bronze Stars for bravery, the Rome Avno, Naples Fogio, the Italian Cross of Valor, and several service medals.
Logan returned home to McNeil, Texas, in 1945, and spent the next thirty years working for Exxon. In 1997, he was the first recipient of the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor, an honor to be bestowed only upon those Medal of Honor recipients who had served as Texas National Guard.
That same year Kilgore’s National Guard Armory dedicated its new wing to Logan. James M. Logan died on October 9, 1999, at age 79.
In 2011, the Veterans Land Board dedicated its Veterans home in Tyler to Logan and a Medal of Honor Recipient from the Korean War, Travis E. Watkins. It is called the Watkins-Logan Texas State Veterans Home and is made up of 10 individual cottages with 10 private rooms per cottage to accommodate 100 Texas Veterans.
We are always accepting applications, and you can reach the Watkins-Logan Texas State Veterans Home at (903) 617–6150 or https://vlb.texas.gov/veterans-homes/locations/tyler/index.html. Its Facebook page is located at https://www.facebook.com/watkinslogantexasstateveteranshome.
Men like James M. Logan are rare, and that is why they are so valuable to our state and our nation. Logan was a Texas hero, and we at the VLB honor his memory today, 77 years to the day since his above-and-beyond actions.
