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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
General Matthew Ridgway
GEN. MATTHEW B. RIDGWAY
Awarded by
President Ronald Reagan
May 12, 1986
When a soldier rising, sword in hand, reaches to protect an idea--freedom, liberty, human kindness--the world is, for a moment, hushed. Greatness is often born in quiet, in stillness. And so it was that night in June of 1944 when General Matthew B. Ridgway prayed the words God spoke to Joshua: "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." D-day saved a continent, and so, a world. And Ridgway helped save D-day. Heroes come when they're needed; great men step forward when courage seems in short supply. World War II was such a time. And there was Ridgway.
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Medal History
