17 People Are Honored With The Medal of Freedom From President.

By: Matthew Burkhead

President Biden on Thursday recognizes 17 individuals who have accomplished great contributions to the betterment of humanity and standing in the wake of great adversity. Of the recipients is Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and posthumously, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and former Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

The Medal of Freedom is the highest honor that a civilian in the United States can receive and Biden will present 17 individuals with the nation’s highest honor.

"The Fourth of July week reminds us what brought us together long ago, and still binds us -- binds us at our best, what we strive for. We the people, doing what we can to ensure that the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the Sun to light up the future of the world," Biden said in his opening remarks.

"The Fourth of July week reminds us what brought us together long ago, and still binds us -- binds us at our best, what we strive for. We the people, doing what we can to ensure that the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the Sun to light up the future of the world," Biden said in his opening remarks.

Other recipients include Civil rights activist Diane Nash, who worked with Martin Luther King and is a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; Father Alexander Karloutsos, the former vicar general of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; civil rights advocate Raul Yzaguirre, who served as CEO and president of National Council of La Raza; former Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming; and former AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, who will be awarded the medal posthumously; Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and Catholic social justice leader Sister Simone Campbell, the former of NETWORK who leads the “Nuns on the Bus,” a group of politically active nuns; Fred Gray, who was one of the first Black members of the Alabama state legislature since Reconstruction and who represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King as an attorney: retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught; Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse who was the first American to receive a Covid-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials; Dr. Julieta Garcia, the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president; and finally, Megan Rapinoe, a member of the US women’s national soccer team who is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion, the first female soccer player to receive the medal.

"President Biden has long said that America can be defined by one word: possibilities. These 17 Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation -- hard work, perseverance, and faith," the White House said in a statement.

More to come with later updates.