Nation Honors 9 Who Stand as Freedom’s ‘Foot Soldiers’

They are grayer and heavier. And some have lost a few steps. But 42 years after they shattered racial barriers by filing into Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., to integrate its classrooms, they still think of themselves as “a perpetual teenage group.”

Only a grateful nation’s view of them, it seems, has changed.

And on Tuesday, at an emotional White House ceremony, President Clinton and congressional leaders conferred upon the Little Rock Nine the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor that Congress can give.

Thus the six women and three men joined the pantheon occupied by George Washington, John Paul Jones, the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Joe Louis, Rosa Parks and about 300 others.

“When they marched up the steps to school--a simple act--they became foot soldiers for freedom, carrying America to a higher ground,” Clinton said of his fellow Arkansans.

“What they endured was a volcano of hatred and . . . they walked out without being burned,” the president added.

“But they have their scars. They taught us that you can turn your cheek from violence without averting your eyes to injustice. And they taught us that they could pay their price and go on.”

As Clinton spoke, many of the nine nodded knowingly.

The ceremony traditionally takes place in the Capitol Rotunda. But because of the Arkansas connection, Tuesday’s event was moved to the East Room of the White House at Clinton’s request.

The event was attended by about 250 relatives, civil rights leaders and members of Congress. Also on hand were several family members of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who on Sept. 25, 1957, had ordered the Army’s 101st Infantry Division, armed with bayonets, to escort the nine children into Central High School.

One front-row seat in the audience was occupied by Rep. James E. Rogan (R-Glendale), an implacable Clinton critic during the impeachment proceedings. He was there because one of the Little Rock Nine, Pasadena clinical psychologist Terrence Roberts, is now his constituent.

Rogan said that he and the president exchanged pleasantries during a reception before the ceremony.

“It was never anything personal with me,” Rogan added of his harsh comments during the impeachment process.

Other Clinton critics in the room included Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.), who had voted to convict Clinton during the Senate trial last February, and his younger brother, Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.), who had not only voted to impeach Clinton but also helped argue the case against the president during the Senate trial.

Sen. Hutchinson was among those who shared the stage with Clinton. In his remarks, he did not acknowledge the president--as Clinton later did him.

But there were no overt signs of partisan discord during the hourlong event honoring Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown Trickey, Melba Pattillo Beals, Gloria Ray Karlmark and Thelma Mothershed Wair.

Calling it “a happy day, a sad day, an emotional day,” Clinton noted that he was just 11 years old at the time of Central High’s integration.

Until then, he acknowledged, segregation was a way of life for most Arkansas schoolchildren.

“And nobody questioned it. Nobody challenged it. It was just the way things were,” he said.

“Because so many were taught differently, it fell to these nine Americans--when they were young, as children--to become our teachers. And because they taught us well, we are a better country. And we honor them today.”

When he presented medals to the nine, Clinton either kissed or hugged each recipient.

Only one of the nine spoke during the ceremony.

“It’s been a long journey,” said Green. “It’s been worthwhile.”

Associated Press