AMVETS SILVER HELMET AWARDS
Click here for 2009 Silver Helmet Award Winners
History
The AMVETS Silver Helmet Award‚ a unique silver replica of the World War II GI helmet‚ has over the years acquired a well-deserved reputation as the most prestigious of all the awards given by veterans organizations and is now known as the “Veterans Oscar.” The Silver Helmet was first presented at the AMVETS 10th Anniversary Dinner to World War II hero and diplomat General of the Army George C. Marshall‚ in recognition of his contributions as a soldier‚ statesman and American.
The Silver Helmet Awards ceremony recognizes excellence and outstanding accomplishment in the fields of Americanism, defense, rehabilitation, congressional and civil service. Nominations for the Silver Helmet Awards originate with individual AMVETS members and AMVETS posts‚ and are endorsed by the respective state AMVETS honors and awards committees prior to the AMVETS national convention in August. |
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The AMVETS National Honors and Awards Committee‚ composed of all past national commanders and the last five “AMVET-of-the-Year” awardees‚ reviews the nominations and makes recommendations to the convention to determine the recipients.
The Silver Helmet Awards Banquet is held annually in conjunction with the AMVETS Spring National Executive Committee meeting. In addition to AMVETS members, the audience includes cabinet members‚ members of Congress and military officials who come to pay tribute to the recipients of the award and AMVETS. |
Past Silver Helmet Award Winners
INAUGURAL AWARD
SILVER HELMET AMERICANISM AWARD
| Phil Silvers • Harry S Truman • Van Cliburn and Rafer L. Johnson |
| Herbert S. Hoover • LeRoy Collins • J. Edgar Hoover • George Meany |
| Carl Sanders • Charles Rhyne • Frances P. Bolton • Kenneth D. Wells |
| Walter Winchell • Richard Cardinal Cushing • Richard (“Red”) Skelton • Paul Powell |
| John Wayne • Johnny Mann • Joe DiMaggio • Elliot L. Richardson • Richard J. Daley • |
| Kathryn (“Kate”) E. Smith • Robert W. Miller • Richard G. Bucksar • Hugh O’Brian Thomas |
| A. Murphy • Harry Lee • Dom and Carol DeLuise • Lee A. Iacocca |
| James H. Cohen • Ken Lipke • Lee Greenwood • Richard Michel • Kevin Dobson Arthur |
| M. Kaplan • Gerald E. Radcliffe • James Quillen • Peter Coors |
| Irv Kupcinet • Jennifer Wilson • Harold T. Berc • Robert L. Wilbraham |
| Arthur H. Farr • Lincoln S. Tamraz • A. Leo Anderson • Theresa M. Petrone |
| Judy Barr Topinka • Cloyde C. Pinson, Sr. • Wayne Newton • Morrill Worcester |
SILVER HELMET AMVET-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD
| Doris Bradley • Ralph E. Hall • Anthony J. Caserta • George B. Kennedy, Jr |
| Berge Avadanian • Joseph R. Sanson• Frank J. Scarane • Fred J. Tonnemacher |
| Joseph B. Porter • Julius R. Pollatschek • Robert Martin • Catherine C. Moore |
| William E. Brown, Sr. • John B. Engberg II • Herbert Hayes • James L. Singler |
| Earl B. Wright Edgar Williams • E. Cecil Keller • Bill White • William (“Bill”) D. Hill |
| Manuel Toledo • James Jay • Raymond Hess • Pete Valdez • Daniel J. Caputo |
| Joseph B. Gresham • Thomas Barr • Joseph T. Kolano • Russell F. Tarver, Sr. |
| Albert E. Woodard • Joseph Jastry • Charles Altig, Sr. • Winston McGinnis |
| Joseph L. Kee,Jr. • Donald M. Hearon • John A. Wolf |
| Jerome A. Fjeld • Jimmy T. Smith • Lyle Usgaard• Wayne Newton• Anthony Altieri |
SILVER HELMET REHABILITATION AWARD
| Douglas D. Toffelmier • Dwight D. Guilfoil • William S. Middleton • Winifred Overholser |
| Nicholas J. Oganovic William J. Driver • Richard Bush • Henry Viscardi, Jr. |
| William P. McCahill • Criss Cole • Albert P. Russo • Harold Russell • Irving M. Levine |
| Richard L. Roudebush • John L. Quigley • Odell W. Vaughn • John D. Chase |
| Jack J. Dack • Rocky Bleier • Dennis R. Wyant • Jim Martinson • Johnny Thomas Clack |
| Raymond Coleman • Pete Wheeler • A. Malachi Mixon III • Paul Stanley Sheriff |
| Philip H. Viall • James S. Brady • William A. Demby • Ted Leszkiewicz |
| Dante Spagnolo • Ken Smith • Jesse Brown • Seagull Industries for the Disabled, Inc. |
| Max Cleland • Bill McCown • Garland DeLamar |
| James T. Mansfield • Stephen L. Henry • Margaret Baumann• John Lynch |
SILVER HELMET CONGRESSIONAL AWARD
| Edwin Ross Adair • H. Erwin Mitchell • Everett M. Dirksen • Edmund S. Muskie |
| Estes C. Kefauver • Clement J. Zablocki • Peter W. Rodino, Jr. • John W. McCormack |
| Edward W. Brooke • Wilber D. Mills • William Jennings Bryan Dorn • Gerald R. Ford |
| Roman C. Pucinski • John P. Saylor • Margaret M. Heckler • Hugh D. Scott |
| Barry M. Goldwater • Strom Thurmond • Jack F. Kemp • Lucien N. Nedzi |
| Herbert Ray Roberts • Alan Cranston • Robert J. Dole • Howard H. Baker |
| G.V. (“Sonny”) Montgomery • Alan K. Simpson • John Paul Hammerschmidt |
| Marvin Leath • Edward P. Boland Gerald B. Solomon • Chalmers P. Wylie |
| W.G. (“Bill”) Hefner • Michael Bilirakis • Bob Stump • Lane Evans • Jack Quinn |
| Bob Graham • Dave Hobson Sam Johnson • Christopher Smith • Thomas M. Reynolds |
| • Senator Patty Murray |
SILVER HELMET CIVIL SERVANT-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD
| L.J. Andolsek • Reed Harris • Edward L. Omohundro • Robert Hampton |
| Irene Parson • Gordon R. Elliott James E. Johnson • Aladino A. Gavazzi |
| Joseph P. Yeldell • Jayne Baker Spain • William J. Usery, Jr. • Dorothy L. Starbuck William |
| F. Connors • Dorothy S. Looney • Andrew V. Schally • James C. Donohue |
| Donald M. Skinder • Harry N. Walters • Elizabeth Hanford Dole • Mack Fleming |
| Edward Rose • Joan Giannini • Thomas F. Higgins • Thomas C. Doherty |
| Anthony Cinquanta • Henry David Hardt • David L. Armstrong • Raymond G. Boland |
| Richard A. Silver • Hershel Gober • Robert L. Jones • Rich Chrismer |
| Jay R. Vargas • Merle J. Pratt • Jim Delgado |
SILVER HELMET PEACE AWARD
| Dwight D. Eisenhower • Richard M. Nixon • Henry Cabot Lodge • Eleanor Roosevelt |
| Lucius D. Clay • John F. Kennedy • Adlai E. Stevenson • Ralph J. Bunche |
| Arthur J. Goldberg • W. Averell Harriman • Apollo Eleven Crew • Pope Paul VI |
| Henry Kissinger • Joseph Sisco • Michael (“Mike”) J. Mansfield |
| Pope John Paul II • F. Branford Morse • George Shultz |
SILVER HELMET DEFENSE AWARD
| Lyndon B. Johnson • Leo A. Hoegh • Hyman G. Rickover • Robert S. McNamara |
| Curtis E. LeMay • Carl Vinson • Maxwell D. Taylor • U.S. Armed Forces |
| Lewis B. Hershey • William C. Westmoreland • Creighton W. Abrams • Melvin R. Laird |
| F. Edward Hebert • David Packard • Henry M. Jackson • John P. Flynn |
| Daniel J. (“Chappie”) James, Jr. • Caspar Weinberger • Colin L. Powell |
| Norman Schwarzkopf • Lawrence Sowinski • William S. Cohen |
SILVER HELMET SPECIAL AWARD
| Robert (“Bob”) Hope • Astronaut Team of Project Mercury • TELSTAR |
| Edward A. McDermott • Oliver E. Meadows • Ralph W. Yarborough and |
| Richard K. Mellon • Martha Raye • George E. Arneman • P.E. (“Gene”) Howard • Theodore |
| M. Hesburgh • Dodge Division • Chrysler Corporation |
| United Service Organizations, Inc. • Danny Thomas • Frank Blair • Dominick L. Strada |
| and Walter E. Washington • Raymond Burr • Peter J. Brennan • Gordon Sinclair |
| Rick Monday and Ralph Nader • Sig Sakowicz and Earl B. Wright • Aloysius Schwartz |
| and Lori Cox • Raymond J. Costanzo • Frank Sinatra • Ferdinand Marcos |
| Robert T. Secrest and The McDonald’s Corporation • Sister Maria Veronica |
| Special Olympics • Frank Harden and Jackson Weaver • Jimmy Crum • Ralph E. Hall |
| Paul C. Welsh • Bernard Mullins • Joe F. Ramsey, Jr. • Elizabeth Visser • Jay Rockefeller |
| Harris Rosen • Aaron Feuerstein • Sandy Satullo • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. |
| Marcena Jean Cain • Patrick Scott Lynch • Rena Tarbet • Jesse C. White |
| • Jerry “Reed” Hubbard |
SILVER HELMET MEMORIAL AWARD
| Silent Crew of the U.S.S. Arizona (Posthumous) |
SILVER HELMET MERITORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
| Russell C. Barbor • Sam Nunn • Francis R. Gerard |
SPECIAL GOLD HELMET
| Lyndon B. Johnson • Richard M. Nixon • Gerald R. Ford |
| Ronald Reagan • George Bush • George W. Bush |
AMVETS LADIES AUXILIARY HUMANITARIAN AWARD
| Corrine (“Lindy”) Boggs • Mrs. Spencer Tracy • Roy Rogers and Dale Evans |
| Eunice Shriver • Martha Roundtree • Dorothy Fuldheim • Joy K. Ufima • Danny Kaye |
| John McCain • Bill Kurtis • Nancy D. Reagan • Jack Klugman • Margaret (“Peggy”) Say |
| Abigail Van Buren • Donald W. Benson • Barbara Bush • Rosalyn Carter |
| Marlo Thomas • Kimberly C. Aiken • Hillary Rodham Clinton |
| Zachary and Elizabeth M. Fisher • Thomas L. Harken • Dolly Parton |
Heather French Henry • Bryan (“Bart”) Starr • John Cassidy
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Inaugural Award
Americanism Award
AMVET-The-Year Award
Rehabilitation Award
Congressional Award
Civil Servent Of The Year
Peace Award
Defense Award
Special Award
Memorial Award
Meritorious Achievement
Special Gold Helmet
Ladies Auxiliary Humanitarian Award
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