Petition Underway for Parkland Hero To Posthumously Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
He was one of the heroes of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, earlier this year.
Now, a petition is asking that he be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously — and it’s getting a lot of attention.
Kyle Kashuv, one of the highest-profile survivors of the attack, has started the call to have Peter Wang, a 15-year-old who died protecting others during the Feb. 14 attack, given the award.
“His dream was to become a soldier and was buried in his Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) uniform. He was even wearing a JROTC shirt the day of the shooting,” Kashuv wrote in the petition posted on Thanksgiving.
“Let’s please join together, cross party lines, and ask President of the United States, Donald Trump, to posthumously award Peter the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Kashuv also linked to a Fort Myers Sun-Sentinel story that told the story of how Wang allegedly helped keep the door open for students fleeing the shooter.
“He is so funny, caring and selfless,” Lin Chen, Wang’s 24-year-old cousin, said.
“He is so brave. He is the person who is genuinely kind to everyone. He doesn’t care about popularity. He always liked to cheer people up. He is like the big brother everyone wished they had.”
“He was a sweet, loving child … very eager to learn,” said Barbara Sharpe, the principal of the school Wang attended a decade earlier.
“We still have pictures of him at our school. Our heart is hurting. We were devastated when we saw the name,” she added.
The petition has already garnered some 5,000-plus signatures.
That’s still 95,000-ish away from what it needs to be considered by the White House, although it’s gotten some pretty high-profile supporters.
This is an easy nonpartisan issue all Americans can agree with. Let’s honor Peter Wang! https://t.co/bucDCClks7
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) November 24, 2018
Yes, that’s indeed Cenk Uygur — The Young Turks’ star liberal. He’s not often seen anywhere near Kashuv or the causes he supports.
In other words, when he says something “is an easy nonpartisan issue all Americans can agree with,” we can pretty well listen to him.
Check out coverage of the teen’s funeral from “Inside Edition” in February.
Considering that the United States Military Academy has already provided the young man’s family with a posthumous letter of acceptance to West Point, it’s clear the people who know a lot about America’s heroes consider this young man to be in their ranks.
It’s high time for a lot more people to add their names to the petition. That 95,000-name gap ought to close itself in a hurry.
And even without the signatures, Wang ought to be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Cenk and Kyle Kashuv are right — this is a no-brainer.
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