Medal honors Bird's contributions

SANDPOINT - Flanked by President George W. Bush, celebrated inventor Dr. Forrest Bird was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal at a private Oval Office ceremony Wednesday afternoon.

Bird, an internationally revered aviation and respiratory specialist, received the prestigious award for his groundbreaking contributions to his fields of study, according to a presidential citation.

Calling him a brilliant inventor and scientist, the citation praises Bird for his life-saving work creating the world's first mass-produced medical respirator.

"Through his innovation, he has helped transform and enhance the quality of life for people around the globe," the citation reads.

Always modest, Bird was quick to credit his friends, family and co-workers for the most recent award in his long career.

"The biggest thing in life is that you don't travel alone," Bird said. "I think this honor should be bestowed to all the people that helped me down the roadway of life. I go back through my life and I can recall some wonderful, wonderful people that helped me get to this point."

Bird, his wife Pamela and several family members met and spent roughly 15 minutes with the president and First Lady Laura Bush. Both Forrest and Pamela said the first couple and White House staff were friendly and inviting.

"He's a wonderful gentlemen," Bird said of the president. "He's a real, real friendly fellow. He presented himself very well and was very down to earth."

Pamela Bird echoed her husband's sentiment about the first family and said visiting the White House, especially as Christmas nears, was an incredible experience.

"It's open, it's friendly, it's heartwarming and decorated beautifully for Christmas," Pamela Bird said. "It is the first house with the president and, of course, the first lady. It's the representative house of our country."

While historic in its significance, Forrest Bird's most recent recognition is only one of the dozens, if not hundreds, of awards he has earned throughout his 50-plus years as an inventor.

Bird has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, been named the Inventor of the Week by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has an award named after him from the American Respiratory Care Foundation.

Having spent decades working with some of the world's most successful inventors and entrepreneurs, Pamela Bird said it is her husband's relentless thirst for knowledge and enthusiasm for his work that helped propel him to the forefront of American inventors.

"It's the passion," she said. "Inventors - the successful ones - don't create for money. That's not their goal. For Forrest and other successful inventors, it's their passion. It's what they do and it's what they live and breathe for. That's what makes them tick."

After the ceremony, Bird took a moment to reflect on his accomplishments and his place in American society.

"It's humbling, it really is. It makes you realize, by golly, you're just a part of a big, big, global effort in these things we do together. We all work together. Each one of us has a different station in life and we serve one another. That's what makes us Americans," Bird said.