One of the great pleasures of being President is the ability to honor individual Americans whose spirit and sacrifice have bettered the lives of their fellow citizens. I believe this may be a surprise, but it's my privilege today to present individual awards to two outstanding citizens that you all know very well. It is with great respect and admiration that I award Martin Mathews and Hubert Dickey Ballantine the Presidential Citizens Medals for outstanding service that they have given to this community, to St. Louis, and to the United States of America. They are both the same except for the names on them being different. I would like to take this time to say welcome, Mr. President, to St. Louis, Missouri, and let's give him a St. Louis welcome.
Today really is a great day.
It's one of the biggest days in my life, and I sure have enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed the personal contact with the President of the United States. And I say God bless America, and God bless him in his work. I thank you all for being here today. Mr. President, on behalf of the Mathews-Dickey Boys' Club, we would like to present these gifts to you.