Recipients of the Legion of Merit

Richard Edward Cavazos (January 31, 1929 – October 29, 2017) was a United States Army 4-star general. He was a Korean War recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross as a first lieutenant and advanced in rank to become the United States Army's first Hispanic four-star general. During the Vietnam War, as a lieutenant colonel, Cavazos was awarded a second Distinguished Service Cross. In 1976, Cavazos became the first Mexican-American to reach the rank of brigadier general in the United States Army. Cavazos served for 33 years, with his final command as head of the United States Army Forces Command. On May 25, 2022, The Naming Commission recommended that Fort Hood be renamed to Fort Cavazos, in recognition of Gen. Cavazos' military service. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the renaming on October 6, 2022. The re-designation as Fort Cavazos occurred on May 9, 2023.

Thomas R. Olsen (June 28, 1934 – January 5, 2014) was a major general in the United States Air Force.

Colonel Antulio Segarra Guiot (January 20, 1906 – September 14, 1999) was a United States Army officer who in 1943 became the first Puerto Rican in history to command a Regular Army Regiment. Segarra served as Military Aide to the Military Governor of Puerto Rico Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and during World War II commanded the 65th Infantry Regiment.

Michel Roquejeoffre (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl ʁɔkʒɔfʁ]; born 28 November 1933) is a retired French Army general. He commanded Operation Daguet, the French operations during the Gulf War. French forces, a part of the coalition forces, counted 18,000 soldiers and took a direct involvement in the battles with Iraqi forces, both on Kuwait and Iraqi territories.
Before that Roquejeoffre participated in the Algerian War and later missions in Chad, Lebanon and Cambodia. He entered Saint-Cyr in 1952. He retired in 1991.
Allied commander, U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. described Roquejeoffre in his memoirs as one of his most trusted confidants during the war. Roquejeoffre was awarded the Legion of Merit by the United States for his services in the Gulf War.

Brigadier General Antonio Rodríguez Balinas (February 28, 1928 – September 21, 2011) was the first commander of the Office of the First U.S. Army Deputy Command.

Eugene Parks "Dennis" Wilkinson (August 10, 1918 – July 11, 2013) was a United States Navy officer. He was selected for three historic command assignments. The first, in 1954, was as the first commanding officer of USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. The second was as the first commanding officer of USS Long Beach, America's first nuclear surface ship. The third was in 1980 when he was chosen as the first President and CEO of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) from which he retired in 1984.

Lieutenant General Eugene Francis Tighe, Jr. (June 19, 1921 – January 29, 1994) was director of the United States Defense Intelligence Agency (September 1977 – August 1981).

Carlos Maurice Talbott (January 28, 1920 – February 26, 2015) was a United States Air Force officer who attained the rank of lieutenant general and was vice commander in chief of the Pacific Air Forces, headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base.

Lieutenant General Richard Joe Seitz (February 18, 1918 – June 8, 2013) was a United States Army officer and paratrooper who, during a 35-year career, commanded the 2nd Battalion, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II, the 82nd Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps.

Lieutenant General George Marion Seignious U.S. Army (June 21, 1921 – July 3, 2005) was a distinguished military leader, diplomat and college president.