Charlie Kirk: A well-deserved Presidential Medal of Freedom 

By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press

President Donald Trump announced Thursday, Sept. 11 that he will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in Utah on Wednesday, Sept. 10.

Trump made the announcement during remarks at the Pentagon to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor.

“Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt," President Trump said. "Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” he said to start his remarks.

“Our prayers are with his wonderful wife, Erika, and his beautiful children – fantastic people they are,” President Trump said. “We miss him greatly; yet, I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.”

For the last few years, I have received emails from Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA, which he founded as a voice of reason when he was a teenager. These were not personal emails, understand; they showed up in my "spam" or "promotions" folders in google mail.

Without exemption, I simply deleted them and moved on. After all, as Brandy Chandler was wont to say, "Rory Ryan is a busy man."

I also just didn't think that any 30-year-old who wasn't one of my three children had much to say that would interest this old guy. I am more of a Victor Davis Hanson column reader. But I was wrong about Kirk. With regrets, I have learned much more about the assassinated Charlie Kirk than I knew about the living 31-year-old who, through determination and grit, became one of the best college campus debaters of this century.

I like to think that many more of us have been learning about Charlie Kirk.

From his website at Turning Point USA – https://tpusa.com – this week, the staff posted this:

"Every one of us at Turning Point USA is crushed and devastated by the hateful murder of our founder and guiding light, Charlie Kirk. All of us have lost a leader, a mentor and a friend. Above all, our hearts are with Erika and their two children. Charlie was the ideal husband and the perfect father. Above all else, we ask you to pray for the Kirks
after the incomprehensible loss they have suffered. More than anyone, Charlie believed in the power of argument and good-faith debate to find the truth and guide people toward, if not agreement, then at least mutual understanding. Charlie was no stranger to threats. He received thousands throughout his life. But he always prioritized reaching as many young Americans as possible over his own personal safety. Now, Charlie has become America's greatest martyr to the freedom of speech he so adored. In his 31 years, Charlie lived more than any of us will in a hundred. He had an overwhelming passion for life and a deep belief in his power as an individual to make a difference. 

"With the spirit of a pioneer, Charlie launched Turning Point out of his parents' garage as an 18-year-old with no money, no name recognition, only a dream. His energy and drive were awe-inspiring, without equal and deeply infectious. Charlie refused to squander a single day of his life. He was a natural builder and problem solver, who loved a challenge and saw every setback as a chance to learn, grow, pray, and try again. He was fundamentally decent, always eager to make new friends and allies and to support and defend the ones he had already made. His values were timeless American ones: Honesty, forthrightness, duty, loyalty and fair play. Charlie loved America, its people, its Constitution, its freedom and the limitless good all of them have done for the world. But above all, Charlie lived every day with an overflowing love of the Christ he knew he would one day get to see. When asked, Charlie said that above all he wished to be remembered for his faith. For all time, he will remain the brave young man who inspired tens of millions of Americans to better themselves and take action to better America."

It's been written that Kirk did not go to college. That's not entirely true. As Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn wrote in National Review this week, "Charlie had taken one of our online courses, passed the examination, received his certificate, photographed himself with it and texted it to me. Before his death, he did that about 30 times. I talked with him many times. The prevailing subject was always something he wanted to know."

I like President Arnn and have published columns from Hillsdale's Imprimis newsletter for many years.

Last month, President Arnn addressed the incoming class of 2029 about the school's honor code during freshman orientation on Aug. 25. All students must sign the code, which emphasizes honorable conduct, honesty, duty in study and service, and respect for others' rights.

"College is the most radical form of cooperation," Arnn said. "You will discover that we don’t care what your opinions are. We think you’re too young for them to be worth much anyway. But we’re here to find the truth, and that means in our best moments, we don’t really care much about what our opinions are either."

That reminded me of Charlie Kirk's approach in the arena of public debate. Kirk favored the phrase "Prove me wrong." Very few ever could.

In his tribute to Kirk this week, Arnn wrote:

"How did Charlie Kirk become such a serious man? He worked at it, as anyone must. I met Charlie when he was 19 years old. He had already begun Turning Point, and he was becoming famous. In my line of work, we do not believe in flattering the young. When he sat beside me at an event, I asked him what Turning Point was. He said it was going to change the culture on college campuses. I asked him what is meant by the expression “college.” He struggled for an answer, as young people do when asked to define a large and basic term.

"I did not expect to hear from Charlie again. Soon enough, he got hold of my phone number and started texting me. ... He learned very fast. It was no surprise to me that he began to go to college campuses to hold events under the title 'Prove Me Wrong.' He conducted himself with spirit but never with anger or cheapness; no surprise that he persuaded tens of thousands to join his cause; no surprise that his hundreds of employees found him inspirational. I never heard him boast. I never heard him accept a compliment except humbly. He was incisive in debate, sometimes even fierce, but with never a personal disparagement or low blow.

"I came to admire him, then to love him. He has done great things, but they were only beginning. He deserves that term of honor that the Greeks reserved for the best: Charlie was a serious man. It made me better to know him. Like all, except the wicked assassin and his ilk, I grieve over the loss of him and pray for his family."

For those of us less familiar with the words and deeds of Charlie Kirk in his all-too-brief 31 years, it saddens me that those words have been silenced. I hope the best for his family and that Turning Point USA can continue its message of faith, family and country on college campuses across the nation.

To those – from so-called educators to mainstream media hacks to paid public officials – who have cheered the man's assassination in the last few days, may your sickness soon be healed. It is beyond repulsive, but it is surely not contagious as Charlie Kirk so wisely proved.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.