WEST POINT – Senator Elizabeth Dole received the West Point Association of Graduates’ Sylvanus Thayer Award on Thursday.
The award is given to a citizen who embodies the academy’s motto of “Duty, Honor, Country,” and outstanding service.
According to the academy’s Superintendent Lt. General Steven Gilland, when it comes to selfless service, Senator Dole, whose late husband was Senator Bob Dole, was “in a class by herself.”
“As a proud American who cherishes our freedoms, I am ever grateful to the generations of Americans who have joined Bob in wearing the Army uniform, and I am in awe of the officers who have emerged from this prestigious academy for more than two centuries to lead those soldiers with wisdom, character and remarkable courage,” she said.
Although her tenure as the first female Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Labor, President of the American Red Cross, and as a US Senator were all notable, the work that her foundation “The Elizabeth Dole Foundation” truly exemplifies her service. The foundation and it’s “hidden heroes” and “hidden helpers” initiative supports military caregivers and caregiver children.
Dole reflected on when while caring for her husband at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2011, she met military families caring for their loved ones who were injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. She befriended Jessica Allen whose husband Chaz had stepped on an IED in Afghanistan and lost both legs and partial use of an arm. Jessica’s challenges caring for her husband and providing for her family moved Dole to find a way to help.
She started her foundation to “strengthen, empower, and support America’s military and veteran caregivers and their families by raising public awareness, driving research, championing policy, and leading collaborations that make a significant impact on their lives.”
Other recipients of the Thayer Award include her husband Bob Dole, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas…
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