Remarks Upon Presenting the Dr. Thomas Dooley Medal to His Mother

I take great pleasure on behalf of the Congress and the country in presenting the Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Medal to Mrs. Dooley and members of the Dooley family. This is an extraordinary action by the Congress which takes place only on the rarest occasions when a medal representing the strongest feelings of the American people is struck and presented, and I think it is most appropriate in this case. I think all of us have been impressed by the extraordinary example of Dr. Dooley, who went to the farthest reaches of this earth of ours in order to serve people whom we would not ordinarily regard as intimately related to us and so far away. The letter he wrote when he set up his last hospital, and which finally reached its destination, indicated his strong feeling of service. It typified the best of our country.

In presenting this medal to you, Mrs. Dooley, we want you to know how appreciative we are to him for the example he has set to all of us, and the impression he has given to the world of the compassion of Americans. We want to express our great pleasure in having you here, and particularly in having your grandchildren, who look like the kind of Americans of whom we are very proud.

I met Dr. Dooley, and it is with great pleasure that we present this medal to you, Mrs. Dooley.