HEROIC CITIZEN

	Name of Hero: Mr. Jack Night
	Category of Heroic Deed: Military
	Approximate Date of Deed: 2/10/1945
	Hero's age at time of deed: 28
	Hero's Life Status: Deceased (on Data Base entry date)

Heroic Deed or Accomplishment:

MEDAL OF HONOR HERO: Forty-four years ago after he was struck down by an enemy grenade on the battlefields of Burma, Parker County native Jack Knight was posthumously awarded the Texas Legeislative Medal of Honor by Gov. George W. Bush. Knight, born in Garner Texas in 1917, was one of 83 Texas military heros whose acts of wartime bravery earned them a spot on a monument unveiled at a Memorial Day ceremony at the Texas State Cemetary. "We were proud of him for what he did," said Bill Knight of Mineola, who was 11 years old when his brother was killed near Loi-Kang, in Burma, in 1945. He said he felt a mixture of "sadness and pride" at the honor bestowed on his brother, made possible by an act of the Legislature. Knight is only the second recipient of the medal since it was established in 1963. But Bill Kright said he'd give it all up if he could get his brother back. "We'd rather have him than all the ceremonies put togather," he said. Bush presented the award to Bill and his sister, June Knight Campbell, who lives in Weatherford Texas. The Govener dedicated the new monument, a 12-foot obelisk made of Fredricksburg red granite. It contains the names of 83 Texans who have received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for wartime bravery. Knight was awarded the Honor a few months after he died 54 years ago. "Behind each name on this stone, living and dead, is a hero's story," Bush said. "Stories of daring attacks, impossible rescues and last-ditch stands." "Those of us who benefit from this sacrifice face a question: What do we owe the brave?" he asked. "It is our first duty to remember what they have done," Bush said. "Their character was tested in death marches and jungle stalemates. And in the end, they won an epic struggle, the struggle of a century, to save liberty itself." Jack Knight enlisted in the Texas National Guard in 1940. Designated Commander of Troop F, 124th Calvery Regiment, Knight was sent to Burma in September 1944 and given the task of stopping the movement of Japanese supplies along the Burma Road. Alongside his brother Curtis, also a member of Troop F, Jack Knight and his unit came under fire Feb. 2, 1945. After knocking out enemy pillboxes, Knight was blinded by a grenade but rallied his unit onward before dying on the battlefield. Curtis Knight survived the attack. Curtis now 79 and living in Killeen Texas, was unable to attend the ceremony that honored his brother. Reprinted from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram