Ellis Island Medal of Honor
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) and intended to pay homage to the immigrant experience. The medals honor the contribution made to America by immigrants and the legacy they left behind in the successes of their children and grand-children. Many Medalists take pride in documenting their family's entry to the country via Ellis Island. The medals are awarded to native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens from various ethnic backgrounds. The honorees are said to "exemplify outstanding qualities in both their personal and professional lives, while continuing to preserve the richness of their particular heritage."[1]
The medals were established at the time of NECO's founding in 1986. A ceremony is held each May on Ellis Island. All branches of the United States Armed Forces traditionally participate. Both the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate have officially recognized the Ellis Island Medals of Honor. Each year’s recipients are read into the Congressional Record.[2] The Great Hall where immigrants were once processed hosts the gala dinner which follows the ceremony. Approximately 100 Medalists are honored each year. Past Medalists include six Presidents, as well as Nobel Prize winners and leaders of industry, education, the arts, sports and government.
The Ellis Island Medals of Honor celebrate the diversity of American life, honoring not only individuals, but the pluralism and democracy that have enabled ancestry groups to maintain their identities while becoming integral parts of the American Way of life.
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Notable medalists [edit]
Notable Medalists include:
- Spencer Abraham
- Gary Ackerman
- Ichak Adizes
- Danny Aiello
- Roger Ailes
- Muhammad Ali
- Goli Ameri
- Tom Arnold (International Award)
- Ǵorǵija Atanasoski
- Tony Blair (International Award. The first non-American to receive award)
- Dr. Muhammed Majeed (Recognized for Lifelong Service PISCATAWAY , NJ , May 15, 2004}
- Michael Bolton
- Colonel Matthew Bogdanos
- Dan Burton
- George H.W. Bush
- Salvatore Cassano
- Bernadette Castro
- Elaine Chao
- Dominic Chianese
- Bill Clinton
- Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Jerry Colangelo
- James F Comley
- Rita Cosby
- Vince DeMentri
- Joe DiMaggio
- Gloria Estefan
- Michael Finnegan
- Renée Fleming
- Gerald Ford
- Valentin Fuster
- Bill Gallo
- Dr. Hossein Gharib
- Salvatore Giunta
- Sudhir K Gupta
- Bob Hope
- Roy Innis
- Alejandro Esclamado (Founder and first president of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations also known as NaFFAA, lobbyist for WWII Filipino veterans' benefits)[3]
- Daniel Inouye
- Quincy Jones
- Henry Kissinger
- Stewart F. Lane
- Jerry Lewis
- Oren Lyons[4]
- James E. McGreevey
- Alan B. Miller
- Angelo R. Mozilo
- Jacques Nasser
- Admiral Robert J. Natter, USN (Ret.)
- Michael Novak
- Denis O'Brien
- General Raymond T. Odierno, USA
- John O'Hurley
- Lou Papan
- James Henry Quello
- Charles B. Rangel
- L. Rafael Reif
- Mary Lou Retton
- Doris Roberts
- Peter Romary
- Bruno Sammartino
- Martin Scorsese
- Rosanna Scotto
- Jane Seymour (actress)
- Brooke Shields
- Don Shula
- William E. Simon
- Fauja Singh
- Frank Sinatra
- Alex Spanos
- Jerry Stiller
- Donald Trump
- Dennis Vacco
- Donald E. Washkewicz
- Mike Zafirovski
- Cyrus Amir-Mokri
- Frankie Valli
2011 Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients [edit]
Gina Addeo; Setrak O. Agonian; Margaret Ajemian Ahnert; Carlos E. Alvarez; Jamid Ansari; Michael Aram; Tom Arnold; Kevork B. Bardakjian, PhD; Stanley M. Mergman; Tejinder Singh Bindra; Col. Matthew Bogdanos, Esq., USMC (Ret.); John A. Brennan, MD; Paul A. Brinklet; Jerry Cahill; Hon. Salvatore J. Cassano; Anthony D. Chimino; Steve S. Chon; Jim Cligton; Darryle D. Clott; James F. Comley; Giancarlo Crupi, MD; James Jian Cui, MD, PhD; Supt. Joseph A. D'Amico; Marty D. Davidson; Joseph F. Dean; ADM Bruce DeMars, USN (Ret.); Vince DeMentri; Nitin V. Doshi, DDS; Pierre Dulaine; CAPT Linda L. Fagan, USCG; David Fitzpatrick, PhD; Bill V. Gallo; Cyril E. Geacintov, PhD; John Giuffre; SSgt. Salvatore A. Giunta, USA; Joseph R. Haiek; Dorothy J. Harber; Scott H. Herman; Fernando J. Hernandez; John M. Iacono; O. Wayne Isom, MD, Joel P. Jahraus, MD, MG Nathaniel James, AUS, Hon. Peter J. Koutoujian, SR., Cecilia M. La Pietra, OP, Wai Lap Leung, MD, Jeffrey E. Levine; Jerry Lewis; Weining Liang, MD; Joanie M. Madden; Babu Rao Mandava; Joseph A. Martorana; Anthony J. Melita; Joseph S. Micallef, JD; Radmila Milentijevic, PhD; LTG John F. Mulholland, Jr., USA; Francis Najafi; Vali R. Nasr, PhD; Younes Nazarian; Denis O'Brien; James G. O'Connor; John O'Hurley; Gail Talanian O'Reilly; Harvey E. Oyer, III, Esq.; Mustafa Oz, MD, FACS; BG Frederick M. Padilla, USMC; Ra. Y. Park; Patrick M. Park; William L. Perocchi; Vladimir Prodanovich; Philip Pumerantz, PhD; Fahim Rahim, MD FASN; Naeem Rahim, MD; Ali C. Razi; Frank L. Regnante; Doris Roberts; Michele M. Rollings, Esq.; Thomas Roma; Bruno L. Sammartino; Samin K. Sharma, MD; Kevin Chang Yao Shih; Donald F. Shula; CMSgt Darren A. Silsbee, USAF; Susan Sommer-Luarca; Joel Szabat; George Veras; Manu K. Vora, PhD, MBA; Joseph M. Walsh; Shirley Wang; Richard P. Wei; Roger L. Williams, MD; Walter W. Wise, Jr.; Chris Jia Shu Xu; Madlena Zepter; Philip Zepter; Kenny Weiqun Zhang
2012 Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipients [edit]
Alfred Marshall Acuff, Jr.; Michael W. Allen, PhD; Nancy Arabian; Carol Baldwin; Michael D. Bennett; Neil Berg; Peter Bheddah; Ravishankar Bhooplapur; Herman Chanen; Sam Chang; Johnson Chen; Sanjiv Chopra, MD, MACP; William Cooper; Bita Daryabari; Leena N. Doshi, MD; Hon. Robert Duffy; Angelo Dundee; VADM Robert Francis Dunn, USN (Ret.); Annie Falk; Leonard A. Ferrari, PhD; Jason C. Fu; Bob Gaudio; Fletcher Doud Gill; Nishan Goudsouzian, MD; Richard H. Grace; Dr. Peter Gruss; VADM Robert S. Harward, USN; David A. Hirsch; Chung Wha Hong; Surendra V. Jain, MD; James J. Jimmerson, Esq.; Robert Trent Jones, Jr.; Dr. Henry Hyun Suk Kang; Kevork I. Karajerjian, AIA; Declan M. Kelly; Howard Kessler; Michele P. Kessler; Dalida Keuroghlian; Dongsuk Kim; Paul J. Klaassen; Gerda Weissmann Klein; Giorgio Kolaj; Emrah Ahmet Kovacoglu; Thomas C. Lee, MD; Harry Leibowitz, PhD; Hoi Ken Leung; William Li, MD; Emily E. Lin, AIA; Superintendent David M. Luchsinger; Felix Luu; David E. Luzzi, PhD, MBA; David S. Mack; Spiro J. Macris, DDS; Kai D. Mai, DDS; Ray Mancini; Steven G. Mandis; John A. Mattiacci, DPM; Leonard Mazur; James H. McGuire; Hon. Gregory W. Meeks; Papken Megerian; LTC Edward Monroe; Dr. Gordon H. Mueller; Colonel Mark G. Mykleby, USMC (Ret.); Ryan B. Nabors, MSIR; Ohannes A. Nercessian, MD; Helen Ngan Shim Ng; General Raymond T. Odierno, USA; Gregory H. Olsen, PhD; BGen Joseph L. Osterman, USMC; Edith Padilla-Serrano; John A. Peca; Helen K. Persson; Alice Petrossian; Dra. Vanda Pignato; Rafael Pineiro; Pasquale Pistorio; CAPT Norman Wayne Porter, USN; Dominic L. Pugliani; Thomas C. Quick; Edward J. Rappa; Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; Ghassan M. Saab; Peter Kaivon Saleh, Dr.PH; Dr. Theresa Patnode Santmann; Wido L. Schaefer; Tamer A. Seckin, MD; Dr. Hasu P. Shah; Peter Stephen Shelley, MME; Brooke Shields; Joan Ellyn Silber, PhD; Dr. Rajendra Singh; Ronald E. Spears; Joyce Philibosian Stein; John P. Thomas, MD, FACS; Ronan Tynan, MB, BCH, BAO; Frankie Valli; Reza Vaziri; Helen verDuin Palit, DHL; CAPT Joseph M. Vojvodich, USCG; Paul Emile; Wakim, DO; Jose M. Wiley, MD, FACC, FACP, FSCAI; Major General James L. Williams, USMC (Ret.); Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo; Tommy C. Xie
A list of all past medalists can be found at: [1]
Notes [edit]
- ^ http://neco.org/medalists.php
- ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r111:4:./temp/~r111qdQcPH::
- ^ [www.cfo.gov.ph/pdf/presidential%20awards/.../04pamana_esclamado.pdf]
- ^ "Department of American Studies Faculty: Oren R. Lyons." University of Buffalo, College of Arts and Sciences. (retrieved 26 Aug 2010)