Two members of the Council of the Twelve were among 12 honorees at the 1993 National Awards Program of the Utah chapter of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge.
At an awards luncheon in Salt Lake City Nov. 10, Elder Dallin H. Oaks received a George Washington Honor Medal for a speech titled, "Rights and Responsibilities," which he delivered at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., on April 26, 1984.Elder M. Russell Ballard was awarded a George Washington Honor Medal for a speech, "Religion in a Free Society," which he gave July 5, 1992, in Provo, Utah, at the Freedom Festival Devotional. Elder Ballard was unable to attend the luncheon because he was out of town. His son, Craig Ballard, accepted the award on his father's behalf.
Alma Welch, program chairwoman, read an excerpt from Elder Oaks' speech, which was delivered at the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University: "Responsibility connotes duty or obligation. In one sense, responsibility is just the duty side of someone else's right. That kind of responsibility is enforceable. I speak of a different kind. I refer to an obligation or duty that, as a practical matter, is not enforceable by legal process. Such responsibilities include all that are owed to one's conscience and to one's god and many that are owed to one's fellow beings, to one's community."
She also read an excerpt from Elder Ballard's speech: "Let us resolve to make our own families truly free by teaching them that God holds us all accountable. His laws are absolutes; breaking them brings misery and unhappiness; keeping them brings joy, happiness and the blessings of heaven. Let us teach our families and others the importance of moral responsibility based on the laws of God. Let us resolve to listen to moral voices from Church and to those who speak in moral absolutes based on the commandments of God."
Also receiving George Washington Honor Medals were U.S. District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins; Flora Ogan, editorial page editor and associate editor of the Ogden Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah; Joseph A. Cannon, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Geneva Steel in Provo, Utah; Pat Cook and Rosalie Goldman of Bluff, Utah, for establishing a library in an old city jail; and Karen Hahne of Orem, Utah, director of an early intervention project that serves infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities.
Others receiving medals were Dora Flack and Colleen Parker of the Bountiful (Utah) Area Centennial Committee, who developed a Bountiful Cemetery historical walking tour; and Stanford D. Swim, a BYU student currently serving in the Germany Frankfurt Mission for winning first place in the 1992 Freedom Festival speech contest for his talk, "Peace in the Hearts of Men." His mother, Laurie, accepted the award on his behalf.
Receiving the Valley Forge Honor Medal was Faun A. Bandeka, a teacher at Granite District's Beehive Elementary School in Kearns, Utah.
Honorees were selected by an independent National Awards Jury, comprised of state Supreme Court justices and executive officers of national patriotic, educational and service organizations.
The Freedoms Foundation, headquartered at Valley Forge, Pa., is a national non-profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to the preservation of the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
