The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas Lottery Veteran Recognition: Jesse James Wallace
09.08.2017 | Football
The retired Army veteran will be honored during the coin toss when Texas Football hosts San Jose State.
A native Texan, whose roots trace back to Sir William Wallace, Scotland's very own Braveheart, Jesse James Wallace followed his courageous lineage to serve his country during two Vietnam tours.
The Army veteran experienced harrowing moments during his two years of combat, working on explosive ordinance disposal and on the air mobile assault team. Wallace and his fellow soldiers repelled into the jungle, hustled out the wounded and then hunkered down to fight in their place.
As an explosive specialist, he often found himself crawling through tunnels, disarming booby traps.
"It was a little intense," Wallace said. "You learn how to feel and use a little flashlight. I was five-foot-eight, 132 pounds when I first went into the military. I came out fairly stout with shot nerves."
Wallace fought in two significant battles, Hamburger Hill and LZ Swinger, before his honorable discharge in 1969, and he returned to Texas. His family members were among the original settlers in 1824, arriving from Virginia and Missouri, and later fought in the Battle of Goliad.
Wallace was born and raised on the family homestead in Travis County. His younger days were spent working the "rough country" along Bull Creek, near what is now the Capitol of Texas Highway.
"They don't call it Cat Mountain for nothing," Wallace said.
Following his time in the military, Wallace made a career working ranches and training horses. He would often drive horses from Big Bend to El Paso and back, and "by time I got back, we had some pretty good horses." He also drove cattle from Texas to California, Oklahoma and Kansas. When the cattle business was slow, he'd drive a tow truck or haul machinery and heavy equipment throughout the country.
"I needed the adrenaline rush," Wallace said. "Hamburger Hill, that was not nice. After I was out of the Army, it took work to get my mind right. If a fly landed, I knew it."
Thanks to the Texas Lottery, great things are happening all across Texas. Every year, more than $1 billion of lottery revenue goes to good causes like public education and veterans assistance programs. Since 1992, the Texas Lottery has generated more than $26 billion in revenue for the state of Texas. Through strict adherence to their vision, mission and core values, the Texas Lottery is dedicated to ensuring that this support continues.
