Two military veterans were among those who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom Thursday during a ceremony at the White House.
Retired Air Force Gen. Wilma Vaught, 92, and the late Sen. John McCain, a Navy veteran who was held as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, were honored by President Joe Biden during the event.
“Wilma’s one of the most decorated women ever to serve in the United States military,” Biden said of Vaught. “She enlisted in the 1950s because she wanted to be a leader.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Vaught, a graduate of the University of Alabama, joined the Air Force in 1957 and spent 30 years in the service, becoming one of the most decorated women to serve the nation in uniform.
In addition to being the first woman in the comptroller field in the Air Force to be promoted to the rank of brigadier general, Vaught shattered other glass ceilings. She was also the first woman to deploy with a Strategic Air Command Unit.
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After retiring in 1985, Vaught led the effort to establish the Military Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Biden said Vaught shattered conventions and shaped “a new tradition of our military.”
Vaught attended the ceremony and saluted as Biden placed the medal around her neck.
McCain, who died in 2018 after a battle with brain cancer, was serving as a fighter pilot when he was shot down over Vietnam in 1967. He would spend more than five years as a prisoner of war before being released on March 13, 1973.
The son and grandson of Navy admirals, McCain went on to have a storied career in the United States Senate, representing Arizona from 1987 until his death. He was the Republican presidential candidate in 2008 in a race that saw him lose to Barack Obama and then vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
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Biden said he never stopped admiring McCain because he know his honor, courage, and commitment.
"That was John McCain, and the code he inherited from his family that served before him was passed on to his brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren today,” he said.
Biden also presented the medal to 15 others, including Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, U.S. soccer player Megan Rapinoe, actor Denzel Washington, and civil rights attorney Fred Gray.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.