Adventist
Neurosurgeon
receives U.S.
Presidential Medal
of Freedom
June 19, 2008
Washington, D.C.,
United States ... [
Elizabeth
Lechleitner/ANN ]
|
 |
|
U.S.
President
George W.
Bush, right,
shakes hands
with Dr.
Benjamin
Carson
Thursday
June 19
after
presenting
him with the
2008
Presidential
Medal of
Freedom
during a
ceremony in
the East
Room of the
White House.
Bush
commended
Carson for
his skills
in the
operating
room and his
commitment
to
developing
the nation's
young
people.
[photo:
David Bohrer/The
White House] |
|
|
A Seventh-day
Adventist pioneer in
pediatric
neurosurgery who
overcame childhood
poverty and achieved
worldwide renown
received the highest
civilian award
bestowed by the
United States
government today.
Dr. Benjamin S.
Carson Sr. was
awarded the U.S.
Presidential Medal
of Freedom for his
outstanding
contributions to
medicine and his
motivating influence
on America's young
people, U.S.
President George W.
Bush said during a
morning ceremony in
the East Room of the
White House.
Perhaps best known
for his successful
efforts in
separating conjoined
twins and
controlling brain
seizures in
children, Carson is
chief of pediatric
neurosurgery at the
Johns Hopkins
University Medical
Institutions in
Baltimore, Maryland,
United States.
Carson, an inner
city Detroit,
Michigan native,
overcame a "grim
future" of poverty,
crime and violence
to become "a
scholar, a healer
and a leader," Bush
told the audience of
cabinet members,
Congressional
representatives and
medal recipients and
their families.
"For his skills as a
surgeon, his high
moral standards and
his dedication to
helping others, I am
proud to bestow this
honor," Bush said.
The soft-spoken
Carson later told
Adventist News
Network that while
national recognition
is "obviously very
nice," he feels like
he's "just along for
the ride."
"You basically put
everything in the
Lord's hands, and he
just guides your
life," Carson said.
"It's always been
amazing to me, the
things He's made
possible."
During the ceremony,
Bush singled out
Carson's mother,
Sonya, who -- seated
near Supreme Court
Justice Antonin
Scalia and former
Senator Bob Dole --
stood to receive the
president's welcome.
"Some moms are
simply forces of
nature who never
take 'no' for an
answer," Bush said.
"I understand," he
added, alluding to
his own mother and
eliciting laughter
from the audience.
Sonya, a single
parent of two sons,
Bush explained,
required the young
Carson and his
brother to check out
library books and
write weekly reports
on them. Never
letting on that she
couldn't read the
reports, Sonya would
mark and return
them, knowing
education was her
sons' best
opportunity, he
said.
Bush praised Carson
and his wife, Candy,
for founding
The Carson Scholars
Fund, Inc.,
a non-profit
national scholarship
fund that promotes
similar academic
achievement by
recognizing and
rewarding students
in grades 4-11 who
demonstrate academic
excellence and
commitment to
community.
"Our nation is
falling so far
behind
technologically,"
Carson told ANN,
adding that
advocating education
is his first
priority these days.
The medal, he said,
gives him "a chance
to promote not only
academic
achievement, but
also the
humanitarian
qualities and values
I think are so
crucial to society.
I've felt for many
years that the Lord
gave me this
spectacular medical
career as a platform
for this."
"We congratulate Dr.
Carson on this
singular honor,"
Adventist world
church President Jan
Paulsen said in a
statement. "His
service to humanity
models the values
and quality of life
expressed by our
church around the
globe."
Carson, 56, is also
the author of four
books: an
autobiography,
"Gifted Hands: The
Ben Carson Story,"
"Think Big:
Unleashing Your
Potential for
Excellence," "The
Big Picture: Getting
Perspective on
What's Really
Important" and, most
recently,
"Take the Risk:
Learning to
Identify, Choose and
Life with Acceptable
Risk."
Medal recipients
joining Carson
included physician
and medical
researcher Dr.
Anthony S. Fauci;
the late human
rights champion Tom
Lantos, the only
Holocaust survivor
to serve in the U.S.
Congress; sixteenth
Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of
Staff, General Peter
Pace, U.S. Marine
Corps (Ret.);
scholar and teacher
Donna Edna Shalala;
and Judge Laurence
H. Silberman.
Established by
President Harry S.
Truman in 1945 to
honor service during
World War II, the
medal's purpose was
expanded by
President John F.
Kennedy in 1963 to
include leaders in
medicine, government
and the judiciary,
as well as the
military. The annual
award is bestowed by
the U.S. president
to those who have
made a "meritorious
contribution" to the
nation, a statement
by the White House
Press Secretary said
yesterday.
Carson, who first
intended to be a
missionary doctor,
told ANN he once
worried switching to
neurosurgery would
mean an end to
outreach. "I said,
'Lord, neurosurgeons
are always in the
operating room --
they don't talk to
anyone,'" Carson
remembered with a
laugh. "But He
worked it out."
