The Medal of Honor Knoxville Convention Committee Announces 2014 Patriot Award Recipients
Knoxville, TN (PRWEB) May 22, 2014 -- The Knoxville Medal of Honor Convention Committee announced Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr., CBS golf commentator and philanthropist David Feherty, CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper and actor and producer Mark Wahlberg are the recipients of the 2014 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Awards to be presented at the convention this fall.
“As a convention committee, we nominated all awardees last year and are thrilled they have been approved by the Society’s board of directors for their outstanding achievements within their fields and for their commitments to the US military,” said Joe Thompson, co-chairman of the Convention. “We are excited for Alito, Tapper, Wahlberg and Feherty to travel to Knoxville to receive their awards at the Patriot Award Gala, which will be hosted by actor and former Society Award honoree Gary Sinise.”
U.S. Army veteran and Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. will receive the Patriot Award. The award is presented to individuals who demonstrate a commitment to American freedom and the ideals embodied within the Medal of Honor.
CBS Sports golf commentator David Feherty will receive the Distinguished Citizen Award for his founding of the “Troops First Foundation,” which assists wounded soldiers coming home from war. The award is given to Americans dedicated to freedom and the ideals of the Society. He has made tours to Iraq and is committed to helping servicemen and women.
“Losing a limb, or the ability to use a limb, is one thing,” Feherty said in his biography. “But the dignity they lose with it is perhaps even more important. And to be able to give them some of that dignity back is my mission these days. It’s not a charity. It’s just us trying to pay back a very small part of the check that we owe them.”
Jake Tapper, chief Washington correspondent and anchor of CNN news show “The Lead” will receive the “Tex” McCrary Award for Excellence in Journalism. This award is given to those impacting the country through unbiased reporting of military topics. Tapper was nominated for the award after writing his recent book “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor,” recounting one of the deadliest American battles in Afghanistan, from which two individuals received the Medal of Honor for their heroism. He is also well known for his military reporting and coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Actor and producer Mark Wahlberg will receive this year’s Bob Hope Award for Excellence in Entertainment for his support of American troops and his positive portrayal of the military on film. Wahlberg recently played Marcus Luttrell, the only survivor of Operation Redwing, in his new movie “Lone Survivor.” Wahlberg’s latest film depicts four Navy SEALs on a mission to capture a top Taliban leader. One SEAL, Michael Murphy, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the battle.
About the Medal of Honor Convention
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is comprised solely of Medal of Honor recipients including men of all races, social classes and economic levels. The Society exists to perpetuate the legacy of the Medal of Honor, maintain a bond of brotherhood among living recipients and promote patriotism and principles on which our nation was founded. Each year the Society holds its annual convention in a different city in the U.S. Knoxville, Tennessee has been selected to hold this year’s convention September 10 – 13, 2014. For more information visit http://www.mohknoxville.com.
Megan Robinson, Medal of Honor Convention - Knoxville 2014, http://www.mohknoxville.com/, +1 202-741-1270, [email protected]
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