[ Text read by Gerald D. Morgan, The Deputy Assistant to the President ]
CITATION:
Major General Melvin Joseph Maas (U.S. Marine Corps, Retired), has served the people of the United States in peace and war with vigor, ability and devotion.
As a Congressman, as a Marine in both World Wars, as Chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped, Melvin Maas has become an example of inspired citizenship to all Americans.
Total blindness and diverse physical afflictions have not been able to stop him in his prosecution of good works. He is a symbol of the proud motto of the handicapped: "It's ability, not disability, that counts." In him the physically handicapped have a brave and effective champion.
For his life-long dedication to the service of the American people; for his outstanding leadership of the President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped; and for his courage in action over and beyond the call of duty, it is most fitting that Melvin Mass receive the grateful recognition of his countrymen.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Note: The citation was presented at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center, where General Maas was recuperating from an illness. General Maas was appointed Chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped on April 13, 1954.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Citation Presented to General Melvin J. Maas. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/234839