How Museums in Central and Eastern Europe Tell the Complicated Story of Life Behind the Iron Curtain
Apr 24
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Awards Lee Edwards the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom
Washington, D.C. (June 9, 2022) – Today, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) announced that it has awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom to Dr. Lee Edwards, VOC Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, and Founding Chairman of the Victims of Communism Museum, which opens to the public on June 13, 2022. The award ceremony occurred as part of the opening ceremonies of VOC’s new Victims of Communism Museum located blocks from the White House in the nation’s capital.
“For over 20 years, the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom has been awarded to those who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to freedom and democracy and a staunch opposition to communism,” said Edwin J. Feulner, VOC Chairman of the Board and a past recipient himself. “Lee’s decades-long fight for liberty has been unmatched. Every endeavor Lee has undertaken has been oriented towards the opposition of all forms of tyranny.”
Edwards helped found Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) in 1960 and was the first editor of YAF’s magazine, New Guard. He served as director of public information for Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign. He started or helped sustain key anti-communist organizations, such as the National Captive Nations Committee, the Committee for a Free China, and the American Council for World Freedom. Edwards is also the author or editor of over 25 books, including biographies of President Ronald Reagan, Senator Barry Goldwater, Dr. Walter Judd, and William F. Buckley, Jr.
Since 1999, more than 75 individuals and organizations have received the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom. This non-partisan honor has been awarded to such luminaries as the current Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer, of Maryland, as well as freedom fighters such as José Daniel Ferrer García, an internationally recognized human rights defender known for his leading dissent against the communist regime of Cuba, and Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong entrepreneur and leader of Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement.
“Like so many who have dedicated their lives to fighting communism, Lee Edwards has demonstrated tremendous leadership and perseverance. He has been instrumental in the success of the Foundation, the Victims of Communism Memorial and now the Victims of Communism Museum,” said Amb. Andrew Bremberg, VOC President and CEO. “None of these successes could have occurred without him and his vision over the years.”
Located in downtown Washington, DC at McPherson Square (900 15th Street, NW), the Victims of Communism Museum is dedicated to commemorating the more than 100 million victims of communism around the world and to those pursuing freedom from totalitarian regimes.
The non-profit museum is operated and managed by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, an educational, research, and human rights organization that was authorized in 1993 by a unanimous Act of Congress signed as Public Law 103-199 by President William J. Clinton on December 17, 1993. On June 12, 2007, President George W. Bush dedicated the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is an educational, research, and human rights nonprofit devoted to commemorating the more than 100 million victims of communism around the world and to pursuing the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes.
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