BUSH PRESENTS THREE TOP WAR ADVISERS WITH MEDAL OF FREEDOM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000401700025-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: July 3, 1991
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/23: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401700025-0
The Washington Post
The New York Times
The Washington Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Chrtstlan Science Monitor
New York Daily News
USA Today
The Chk:ago Tribune
UP 1
Bush presents three top war advisers with Medal of Freedom
By HELEN THOS
UPI White House Reporter
WASIINGION (UPI) _ President Bush Wednesday Persian Gulf War advisers- by including then as recipients s whhen he m chief
presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Gen. No Schwarzkopf
and Gen. Colin Powell. rman
The three additional recipients, Secretary of State James Baker,
Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and national security adviser Brent
Scowcroft all said they were taken completely by surprise.
Astonished,'' exclaimed Scowcroft, who Bush described as an
unsung hero.-
The three men looked flabbergasted when their naves were called by
Bush to step to the stage in the East Roan at a gathering of the
actninistration's top dignitaries and Pentagon leaders. Diplomats from
five allied countries, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Britain
and France, were on hand.
The ceremony was held shortly before Bush left for a two-day trip to
Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota and to
Fourth of July parades Thursday in Springfield, Mo. part d
Mich. , and Grand Rapids,
-It will be a great Fourth of Jul
event takes on a special si y,'' said Bush. -This year this
gnificance, he added, referring to the
liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.
far different %Tyoung men and waien who returned from the
totaon
than the one they left,'' Bush said. f found a
country that is confident and proud, an America that` is They
sure of itself ,
and strong and an America that other nations look to for leadership.
I think there is a new-found credibility around the world,- he
declared, reiterating a statement he has made many times since the end
of the Gulf War.
the Pre- an ass1st tram his wife Ba
irize
i
Medal to
CIA ariii the
white
or thew
t men
contribuein
ons oted that t lifetime. ally receive the award for their
watershed event, so unique, so Sin he said, In Desert Storm we have a
Particularly before the day of our gula ... t et it is fitting, den exceptional service that was rendered by a special r~oguze the
Among those receivin by pedal few.
Defense onld s r iv g the citizens medal were Deputy Secretary of
deputy national securit advisercRober't Gates, who has been Ea crninager;
CONTINUED
Page a9.
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/23: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401700025-0
z.
be CIA director- . David E. Jeremiah; Deity Director ichard
Karr: Un ersecretary of State Robert M. Kinmitt; Undersecretary of
.
Defense Paul Wolfowitz.
The honors for Schwarzkopf, co mander of Operation Desert Storm, and
Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had been announced.
The president said the two generals would be "first to tell us we
owe our success to the men and women who fought in the gulf. They are
the heros.
But he described Schwarzkopf and Powell as the men those "heroes
look up to.''
As the president .it the beribboned medal around Powell's neck, Mrs.
Bush struggled to clasp it. The president then handed her his glasses
and she achieved her task.
Baker, Cheney and Scowcroft all said after the ceremony they had no
idea they would be receiving, the medals. "They kept it pretty tight,
didn't they, '' Baker said. No leaks. No leaks."
'~I was surprised,'' said Scowcroft. "The first I heard about it, I
was sitting right here.''
Cheney said he received "all those weird messages'' Tuesday when he
and Scowcroft were visiting Fort Bragg.
The defense secretary said that as the president it the medal around
his neck, he said, "Surprised you, didn't it.''
8O.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/23: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401700025-0