Presidential medal to honor 3 slain civil rights workers

President Barack Obama announced 19 recipients Monday of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, including three civil rights workers killed by the KKK in Mississippi in 1964.

"From activists who fought for change to artists who explored the furthest reaches of our imagination; from scientists who kept America on the cutting edge to public servants who help write new chapters in our American story, these citizens have made extraordinary contributions to our country and the world," he said.

The medal will be awarded on Nov. 24 to the families of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were killed on June 21, 1964, near Philadelphia, Mississippi.

Other winners include: longtime NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw; Ethel Kennedy, founder of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights; one of Broadway's most celebrated composers, Stephen Sondheim; one of the most talented actors in history, Meryl Streep; one of the most gifted singer-songwriters in history, Stevie Wonder; and Marlo Thomas, an actor and social activist, who serves as national outreach director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson praised the President, saying, "These three young men, and countless others, paid the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to help bring equality to the state of Mississippi. Bestowing the nation's highest civilian honor to these three men is a fitting tribute for their contribution toward making this country a more perfect Union."

In May 30 letter, Thompson, along with U.S. Rep. John Lewis and many others, urged the President to honor the three civil rights workers. "Awarding Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner the Presidential Medal of Freedom will remind the American public of the great cost incurred by ordinary American civilians to protect our freedoms," the letter said.

In 2010, Thompson successfully pushed to name the FBI building in Jackson after the trio, along with the FBI agent, Roy K. Moore, who headed the investigation.

Thompson and Mississippi's senators also sponsored legislation to get the trio Congressional Gold Medals.

"These men paid the ultimate sacrifice to bring justice and equality to every American," said U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker. "Their courageous actions in the face of danger helped turn the course of history in the United States."

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, who is running for reelection this fall, said, "Bestowing the nation's highest civilian award upon these slain civil rights workers would signify the gratitude of a nation that today is more free and just because of their brave work and sacrifice."

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand from New York, where Goodman and Schwerner were from, is also sponsoring the bill.

"Voting is one of the most sacred rights we have as Americans and it is important for us to reflect on our past and honor those who have fought to ensure every citizen has access to that basic freedom," she said. "James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were unsung heroes who sacrificed their lives in the fight for freedom, justice and equality for all. This recognition is long overdue, and I will push to make sure that these brave souls are awarded this honor and that the Gold Medal can stand as a memorial to commemorate their lives and fearlessness."

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, where college students and other volunteers joined the push to enable African Americans to vote. That push was met with violence, resulting in arrests, beatings and church bombings.

On the first day of that summer, the Ku Klux Klan killed Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner. For 44 days, FBI agents tromped through thickets, bogs and backwaters before finding the trio's bodies buried 15 feet beneath an earthen dam.

Their June 21, 1964, killings fueled support for the civil rights movement and helped transform President Lyndon Johnson into a strong supporter, ending one speech with the words of the grass-roots anthem "We Shall Overcome."

In October 1967, a jury in Meridian heard the case against 18 men, who faced federal conspiracy charges.

The jury convicted seven, including Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers, but reputed Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen walked free after they deadlocked 11-1 in favor of his guilt. Jurors said the lone holdout told them she could "never convict a preacher."

Mississippi authorities reopened the case in 1999 after The Clarion-Ledger published excerpts of a sealed interview with Bowers, who ordered the trio's killings.

In that Mississippi Department of Archives and History interview that was supposed to have remained sealed until his death, Bowers said he was "delighted to be convicted and have the main instigator of the entire affair walk out of the courtroom a free man" — a reference to Killen.

In 2000, Jeffrey Goldberg, then a reporter for The New Yorker, drove to the home of Killen, who lives on the same road in Neshoba County where the three civil rights workers were slain.

Goldberg, who has interviewed terrorists from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Qaida, wasn't prepared when the 75-year-old Killen pointed his shotgun at him.

That happened moments after he said he mentioned to Killen that some local people were thinking about building a local memorial to the slain civil rights workers.

He said Killen became enraged, saying, "A memorial? To who? The dead guys? Never! It'll never happen."

But the memorial did happen after a jury in 2005 convicted Killen of orchestrating the 1964 killings. A stretch of Mississippi 19 that runs from Philadelphia to Meridian now bears the names of the trio as does a historical marker — both of which have been repeatedly vandalized.

On Jan. 12, Killen, serving a 60-year sentence, will mark his 90th birthday behind bars. He won't be eligible for release until 2029.

According to testimony and FBI statements, Killen coordinated the events that night, meeting with Klansmen and having them intercept the trio, kill them and bury their bodies.

Schwerner's widow, Rita Bender, said the best honor Congress "could give to these men and all the others killed or injured in the struggle for voting rights and the dismantling of Jim Crow would be the reinstatement of the Voting Rights Act and its aggressive enforcement."

Goodman's brother, David, said he believes that "all the other 900 volunteers in Freedom Summer were heroes, too."