Dallas, Texas (February 29, 2024) –The Alamo Letter Society is honored to announce Mr. Lorne Liechty has received the Captain Albert Martin Alamo Award for his leadership to his County and the State of Texas, by serving as the Rockwall County Chairman of our statewide organization, the Alamo Letter Society. They are only the second county in Texas to receive the 202 pound bronze Col. William Barrett Travis, Alamo “Victory or Death” letter plaque and hold a dedication ceremony at the Rockwall Courthouse.
Founded on Veterans Day in 2023, The Mission of the Alamo Letter Society:
To educate current and future Texans about their forefathers’ armed struggle for Freedom and Liberty through the placement of a large bronze plaque containing Col. William Barrett Travis’s Alamo “Victory or Death” letter, in all 254 Texas Courthouses.
Only 220 words long, many Texans and other Freedom-loving people around the world hold it in the same high esteem as the U.S. Constitution and the Magna Carta.
The organization honors the two leading Tejanos of the Texas Revolution, Jose Antonio Navarro and Juan Seguín. These men believed it possible to be both a proud Mexican and a loyal Tejano. And, they were both. Tejanos: derived from the Spanish adjective tejano or (feminine) tejana denotes a Texan of Mexican descent
Lorne Liechty, a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, was nominated as the Alamo Letter Society County Chair by Texas State Senator Bob Hall. Mr. Liechty was responsible for successfully working with the County Commissioners as to the placement of the magnificent 24-inch by 36-inch bronze plaque, and for creating a successful dedication event at the Rockwall Courthouse last Saturday, February 24, 2024, the 188th anniversary of the famous letter being written by Col. William Barrett Travis the Alamo Commander.
The plaque is an exact replica of the Alamo Letter Plaque in front of the Alamo Chapel, which is seen by more than 2.5 million Alamo visitors each year. The plaque was cast by the Southwell Company, a family-owned Texas Foundry established in 1866, which has made plaques for the Alamo for three generations.
“The spirit of the Alamo letter has been carried by the generations of Texas fighting men to every battlefield,” said John Vick, President of the Alamo Letter Society’s 501(c)(3) entity. The recipient of this award for Rockwall County is continuing the work started by Captain Martin, by bringing this letter to hundreds of thousands of citizens who will visit this historic courthouse for the next hundred years or longer.”
The Co-Founder of the Alamo Letter Society, Mr. Lee William “Bill” McNutt, said “Captain Albert Martin was tasked with the same challenge in 1835 that we have today, to take this appeal and historic piece of literature to all the People of Texas and All Americans in the World. That is exactly what patriot Lorne Liechty has done by bringing it to the historic courthouse in Rockwall, Texas.”
2024 marks 188 years since General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna started marching his army to Texas from Mexico. Three Mexican states, including Texas, were in rebellion. The General soon learned that Texans who value liberty and freedom would defend their family, their land, their property, and their sacred honor, with their lives.”
The Albert Martin Award is a sculpture of the Alamo Rider, Captain Martin, on horseback in full gallop with a rolled-up parchment paper in his left hand symbolizing the Alamo Commander’s letter.
It is a commissioned work by famous Texas historic artist J Payne Lara.
The idea was originated by a 7th-grade Texas School Girl, Slone McNutt, of University Park, Texas. She instilled in the board the belief that for each generation of Texans that the work of publicizing the letter goes on, the cause endures, the message lives on, and the mission for Texans, shall never die.
Submitted press release by John Vick. Courtesy photos.
The Alamo Letter Society Presents Lorne Liechty of Rockwall, Texas the Capt. Albert Martin Award added by Melanie M on
View all posts by Melanie M →