Media Credit: Eliot Meyer Norma and Amador Marcha of San Antonio examine the items of Roy P. Benavidez displayed during an event honoring the Texan war hero. Benavidez received Congressional and Texas Legislative Medals of Honor for his valorous actions during the Vietnam War.

With only a knife and a first-aid kit, small-town Texan Roy Benavidez voluntarily rescued and saved the lives of eight men while wounded. This won him the Congressional Medal of Honor and an exhibit honoring his life and service to the nation, which starts today at UT's Center for American History.

The exhibit displays his Congressional Medal of Honor, Texas Legislative Medals of Honor and a selection of papers, fan mail, speeches and photographs that highlight his military efforts and civic leadership after the Vietnam War, said Echo Uribe, the program coordinator for the center. The exhibit commemorates Benavidez's life and celebrates the 40-year mark of his heroic effort in May 1968.

"Roy's story again is a story of a great American and great Texan," Uribe said. "This is a guy [who], 346 days out of the year, was just like everyone else, but he did this exceptional thing."

The Benavidez family donated these documents in 2006 and loaned the medals to the center.

The exhibit teaches researchers and the general public about Benavidez's "devotion to his beloved family, the military, his fellow veterans and his community, as well as his tireless effort to keep kids in school and away from drugs and gangs," said Noel Benavidez, Roy Benavidez's youngest son, in an e-mail.

The center has provided public access to this information and made it available for current and future research, said Erin Purdy, assistant director of the center.

This is the first Congressional Medal of Honor - the nation's highest recognition for heroic war efforts - displayed at the center, Purdy said.

Benavidez did not initially receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, but former President Ronald Reagan awarded it to him in 1981 after incessant recommendations from Benavidez's commander and other witnesses of the heroic act, according to a release from the center. Reagan requested that Benavidez travel around the globe to educate youth about his experiences, Noel Benavidez said.

He traveled across the U.S. and abroad - sometimes at his own expense - to speak to civic groups, military organizations and troubled youth about his humble upbringing, his 25 years of service in the U.S. Army, his love for his family and the importance of earning an education and staying out of drugs and gangs, Noel Benavidez said.

"His simple message about 'An education is the key to success. Bad habits and bad company will ruin.' is still being echoed throughout the halls of our nation's schools," he said in an e-mail.

Uribe said the Center for American History continues this message by educating teachers, faculty, students and others with Benavidez's papers about the Vietnam War.

"His deed was a reflection of his heart and his mind - in his heart for trying to save the lives of his comrades and in his head for protecting the nation and ideals of America," said Thomas Hatfield, head of the center's Institute for Studies in American Military History.

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