Reagan Honors 7 ‘Rebels’ With Freedom Medal

President Reagan extolled seven recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Monday as “a group of happy rebels” who had defied mediocrity, conventional wisdom and limits on themselves and others to achieve greatness in a variety of endeavors.

“On days like this and lunches like this,” Reagan told the illustrious White House gathering, “I find myself looking up and thinking what a wonderful job I have.”

The President, presenting the awards in alphabetical order, began with his longtime friend, Walter H. Annenberg, creator of TV Guide and former U.S. ambassador to Britain. Reagan said he was giving Annenberg the Medal of Freedom--the highest civilian award--for his “lifetime of achievement.”

Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) was also among the recipients, principally because of what Reagan called his “celebrated candor and patriotism.”

‘A True Original’

Actress Helen Hayes was honored for her starring roles on stage, screen and television “for almost all the years of this century,” Reagan said. “Helen Hayes is that rare thing: a true original.”

Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway, who commanded the 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day, was commemorated as an American hero who helped save a continent “and, so, a world.”

Dr. Albert B. Sabin, a Polish immigrant who came to America as a young boy, was honored for his discovery of the polio vaccine.

Col. Earl H. (Red) Blaik was singled out as “one of America’s great coaches” for rallying his West Point team, the Black Knights, from “a record of devastating defeats . . . into the pages of the history books.”

And the Wall Street Journal’s Vermont Royster, a veteran news commentator, was hailed for more than half a century of common-sense prose that typified the voice of the American people--”honest, open, proud and free.”