TRIBUTE: President Obama yesterday awards a citizens medal to Carlos and Donna Soto, the parents of slain Sandy Hook teacher Vicki Soto (inset). (
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WASHINGTON — A choked-up President Obama led an emotional tribute yesterday honoring six educators killed during the school-shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn.
Wiping a tear from his eye, Obama read the names of Dawn Hochsprung, Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel D’Avino and Anne Marie Murphy — the Sandy Hook Elementary School teachers and staffers who were slain on Dec. 14, awarding each of them posthumous citizens medals, the second-highest civilian honor the nation bestows.
“They gave their lives to protect the precious children in their care. They gave all they had for the most innocent and helpless among us,” Obama said in a White House ceremony.
Families of the victims — many struggling to hold back their emotions — came up to receive the medal along with hugs and pats from the president.
“Obviously I’m proud of what my wife did that day,” said Bill Sherlach, speaking after the ceremony. “She was such a giving person.”
The citizens medals were bestowed to other stand-outs in their communities. But even these honorees were overwhelmed by the continued grief over the Newtown massacre.
“I just saw the tears starting right away, because it’s still new and it’s raw,” said Janice Jackson, who received an award for her work helping women with disabilities. “We were there to celebrate, and then it came back to the reality of what happened [at Newtown].”
Also honored was the late Jeanne Manford of Queens, who founded a group that provides support to gay and lesbian causes after her son, Morty, was beaten in 1972.
“There was a lot of hate, a lot of vitriol towards gays and lesbians and anyone who supported them,” the president said. “But instead she wrote to the local newspaper and took to the streets with a simple message: No matter who her son was — no matter who he loved — she loved him.”
Another honoree was Maria Gomez, of Washington, DC, the founder of health-services provider Mary’s Center whose “integrated approach to medicine, education and social services extends a lifeline to tens of thousands every year,” Obama said.
Afterward, Obama flew to Chicago to issue a call for gun control, investment in troubled neighborhoods and good parenting to keep kids safe.
He said there was something “uniquely heartbreaking and tragic” about the Newtown tragedy.
“But last year there were 443 murders with a firearm on the streets of this city. And 65 of those victims were 18 and under. That’s the equivalent of a Newtown every four months,” he said.
He then repeated his State of the Union refrain that gun-control measures “deserve a vote.”
Speaking at a school less than a mile from his Hyde Park home, Obama jumped into the issues in personal terms, praising single moms as “heroic” even as he called for parents to commit to their kids.
“I wish I’d had a father that was around and involved,” Obama said.