IT IS a pleasure to me to present this trophy, which I do every year, to the winners. Particularly am I interested in the presentation this year because in 1942 or 1943 I held a hearing with a certain Senate committee with which I was connected, and Dr. Sikorsky was there and told me all about helicopters and what they could do. I went up to the Bell air plant in New York, and had a visual demonstration of what they could do, and it is due to the Doctor and the Defense Department and the Coast Guard that the machine is now being used for rescue work and lifesaving. It is one of the great contributions to the air development of this country.
I noticed this morning where some transcontinental airline pilot had re-created the Wright pusher machine, and that he was going to drive it across the country. If you look at that Wright pusher machine, and then look at the transport that he is using from New York to Seattle, and then see the improvement on the Doctor's first helicopter, you can see how progress comes. It never comes all at once. We want to keep trying, because I really think we have barely scratched the surface.
It is a great pleasure to me to this trophy to you three gentlemen.
Note: The President spoke at 11:55 a.m. in his office at the White House. The Trophy was presented jointly to the helicopter industry, the military services, and the United States Coast Guard for their respective parts in the development and use of rotary-wing aircraft for air rescue operations. Dr. Igor I. Sikorsky represented the helicopter industry; Secretary of Defense Robert A. Lovett, the military services; and Vice Adm. Merlin O'Neill, Coast Guard Commandant, the Coast Guard.
Harry S Truman, Remarks Upon Presenting the Collier Award Trophy for 1950 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/231328
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