The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 26, June 28, 2004, Article 6

MEDAL OF FREEDOM AWARDS

  Now here's a headline President Reagan would have
  been shocked to read: "Medal for President Hinckley is 94th
  birthday present"

  "It comes from Utah's Deseret Morning News and the
  Hinckley mentioned is not Reagan's would-be assassin
  (whose last name is spelled differently), but Mormon
  Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, who
  "received a rare gift for his 94th birthday Wednesday - a
  Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian
  award."

  "He was one of 13 recipients honored at an East Room
  ceremony. Others included such people as Pope John Paul II
  (who received his medal recently when Bush visited the
  Vatican), golfer Arnold Palmer, actress Rita Moreno,
  cosmetics company founder Estee Lauder and National
  Geographic Society chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor.

  "President Hinckley, smiling and walking briskly, joked with
  Bush as he placed the gold medal around his neck. When
  President Hinckley was asked later what the two said, he
  responded, "I was so awestruck that I can't remember what
  he said."

  "To show how much the treatment of his church has
  improved since early persecution, President Hinckley
  contrasted his high honor Wednesday with how Joseph
  Smith, the first president of the church, was treated when
  he visited Martin Van Buren in the White House in 1839.

  "They came here to plead the case for our people who
  had been despoiled and persecuted and driven, and were
  turned down by President Van Buren - who said, 'If I
  help you, I will lose the state of Missouri,' and rebuffed him."

  "The Medal of Freedom was established by President
  Truman in 1945 to recognize civilians for their service in
  World War II. It was reinstated by President Kennedy in
  1963 to honor distinguished service.

  Past winners include former U.S. presidents Carter, Ford
  and Reagan; current Secretary of State Colin Powell (who
  attended the ceremony Wednesday); former South African
  president Nelson Mandela; civil rights activist Jesse Jackson;
  and former Czech President Vaclav Havel."  Full Article

  [This web site has more information on the Medal of
  Freedom:  medaloffreedom.com.  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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