OCR Text |
Show ! Tjfie AljlERKAM (Copy for This Department Supplied by tno American Legiun News Service.) HONOR PADEREWSKI WITH D. S. C. MEDAL Ignaee Jan Paderewski, world renowned re-nowned and honored as the master of the piano and former Polish premier, recently was the proud recipient of honors in other fields. National tribute by the American Legion was accorded the great pianist in New York, when lie was presented I with the American Legion Distinguished Distin-guished Service Medal, held by only eight persons in addition to Paderewski. Paderew-ski. National Commander John R. Mc-Quigg Mc-Quigg in conferring the medal, declared de-clared : "The Legion honors Paderewski because be-cause having readied supreme rank as an artist, he left the concert hall and entered the assemblies of statesmen and potentates and carved out a place for a new Poland among the nations of the earth. We honor him also because, be-cause, having amassed a fortune, he spent it all that hospitals might be built, armies might be financed and all things needful might be done to build again the country which he loved and restore it to more than its ancient glory. And we honor him above all because, all this accomplished, he gave freely of his music that through the American Legion the orphaned and dependent de-pendent children of America's World war veterans and the sick and disabled dis-abled among those veterans might be cared for. "In recognition of these supreme contributions to the advancement of humanity in the three spheres of statesmanship, art and philanthropy, the American Legion Distinguished Service Medal fs bestowed upon him." Those holding the Legion Distin- Iqnace Jan Paderewski. gulshod Service Medal are Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France; Admiral Beatty of Great Britain ; Gen. Baron Jacques of Belgium ; General Diaz of Italy ; Charles Bertrand of France, founder-president of Fidac, interallied veterans' federation ; Gen. John J. Pershing; Admiral It. E. Coontz and Gen. Josef Haller of Poland. Paderewski gave the proceeds from four concerts to the American Legion endowment fund for disabled veterans and orphans of the World war. His gift was the largest individual contribution contri-bution made to the fund and totaled approximately $30,000. |