Rep. Olin E. Teague

As a longtime chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Teague took pride in looking out for the welfare of veterans and their families, including their educations. For his work, Legionnaires presented him with the Distinguished Service Medal in 1970.

The congressman from Texas accepted the honor from National Commander J. Milton Patrick, who said Teague had helped "bring equity and justice to the Veterans Benefits Program."

Teague responded by calling veterans programs "probably the most charitable and compassionate undertaking of the federal government. These programs are aimed at helping people when they are sick, supplementing income when they are poor, lessening the burden of the disabled, lending a helping hand to widows and to children who have lost a parent, providing educational opportunities to young people and assisting young families in owning homes."

After joining the Army as a lieutenant in 1940, Teague fought at Normandy and earned the Silver Star with two clusters, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. He was discharged as a colonel in 1946 and was elected that same year to the House of Representatives, where he served his fellow Texans until he retired from public service in 1978.

Teague, who earned the nickname "Tiger" on the high-school football field, also served as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, the Select Committee on Astronautics, and the Space Exploration and Manned Space Flight Subcommittee.

Teague lived in Washington, D.C., until his death in 1981, at 70.

For more on Teague, click here: (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000110).