| Louisiana Veterans Receive Medals |
SGT. GEORGE LEZU RECEIVES PURPLE HEART IN SPECIAL CEREMONY AND FIRST ROUND OF LOUISIANA VETERANS HONOR MEDALS ARE AWARDED.
Governor Bobby Jindal and LA Dept. of Veterans Affairs Secretary Lane Carson l awarded Sgt. George Lezu, a Korean War veteran wounded on the front lines of combat in Korea in 1951, a Purple Heart medal in a special ceremony at the LA War Veterans home in Reserve recently.
Sgt. Lezu, a native of Albany, LA and a member of American Legion Post 167, served in the Army in the Korean War and led a unit that was nearly wiped out by enemy attack in 1951. He and the other four survivors were held captive by the Chinese aggressors and bombarded with propaganda. They were released with instructions to return to the front lines and tell the Americans to go home.
Over half a century later, George Lezu resides at the LA War Veterans Home in Reserve and prefers raising strawberries and dancing to telling war stories. Secretary Carson said, “Sgt. Lezu is a hero and a national treasure, and I am honored to take part in his award ceremony with Governor Jindal—presenting a valiant veteran with a Purple Heart for sustaining a gunshot wound while representing the United States and aiding his fellow man halfway around the globe. The fact that Sgt. Lezu was on the front lines in Korea in 1951 and is in LA telling his tale all these years later is a shining tribute to his strength and character, and I am grateful for him and brave men and women like him who continue to protect our freedom today.
Also, recently, Governor Bobby Jindal and LA Department of Veterans Affairs (LDVA) Secretary Lane Carson awarded the first round of Louisiana Veterans’ Honor Medals to a select group at Pineville’s Federal VA Medical Facility. The LA Veterans Honor Medal has been a priority for Governor Jindal and LDVA since Act 695 of the La. Legislature gave approval to undertake the program in 2008. The intention of the program is to honor and recognize Louisiana's veterans with a gold-tone medal suspended from a gold, purple or blue ribbon or drape. The different ribbons symbolize various categories—gold for families of soldiers who gave their lives in defense of freedom, purple for those wounded in action, and blue for all other veterans.
The first recipients represent a diverse cross-section of La.’s veteran population—those who served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom. Some were POWs; others earned the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in battle. Secretary Carson said, “I was thrilled when Governor Jindal first proposed that LDVA take on the LA Veterans Honor Medals Program, and I couldn’t be happier with the finished product and the monumental opportunity at hand—the chance to meet Louisiana veterans face to face, to shake their hands and award them a striking medal that beautifully conveys the utmost gratitude from a grateful state.”
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