Lithuanian Laurels for Lee Edwards

Ken McIntyre /

Lee Edwards

For years, he worked tirelessly to tell the stories of the courage shown — and horrors endured — by the tens of millions who lived and died under tyrannical regimes. He honored those who resisted, those who were silenced and those whose names never would be known to the wider world.

Now, though, Heritage Foundation scholar Lee Edwards is the one being saluted. And it’s gratifying to see the plaudits aren’t only from friends and allies in the conservative movement, but  the peoples of former communist nations.

In recognition of his decade-long efforts to create the Victims of Communism Memorial, Edwards is slated to receive Lithuania’s prestigious medal for foreign citizens, the Millennium Star, from Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas in a ceremony tonight in Washington. Then, on July 22, Edwards will receive the Walter Judd Freedom Award from the Fund for American Studies in appreciation of his “lifetime dedication to advancing the cause of freedom around the world.”

The two awards are the latest in a series of accolades for Edwards, the distinguished fellow in conservative thought at The Heritage Foundation, as the driving force in making the Victims of Communism Memorial a reality in Washington. (more…)