Martha Raye Medal of Freedom Ceremony

[Trexanh60]

why bothe,r she looks like a piece of vegetable, she has no idea, it is too f..cking late

[drbuzzmann]

Ms. Raye appears to be suffering the full effects of dementia. A disease which is progressive and brings about long-term decline in cognitive functioning. The man or woman (it's unclear - possibly transgender) interviewing Caesar Romero was rather callous to state, "She looks great!" Mr. Romero truthfully reported, "I don't know how she feels cause she doesn't say anything, it's sad really." Mr. Blackwell appears insincere, calculating, ambitious & disingenuous. This segment really haunts me.

[Dietpepsivanilla]

That was Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Roy Benivedez who have her the medal. Two very GREAT Americans!!!

[dan1911a]

There is a really shocking & ugly story behind this fiasco. How hateful of her new husband to put Martha through all this.

There was a documentary made about Martha's final years that was aired on British TV approx 10 years ago. Perhaps someone will have & load it ond day on YouTube.

[hidoll22]

Poor woman she looks as if she doesn't know where she is. I loved her she was suh a funny woman

[carrotjuse]

How very sad. I wish I hadn't seen her like this. She was always so vivacious, fun and larger than life. May God rest her soul.

[love4myclarks7]

I agree with drudge20 & grenadian11- The time to do this was a bit off this event should not have requested the attendance of the honoree seeing that her illness did not allow her to go and enjoy. I don't know if it's wrong of me to think this but, i think the person who was assisting her should have done some kind of make up to her face seeing that the public usually saw her as that, SINCE they insisted on her being there.

[grenadian11]

The medal of freedom great, the way it was presented disgraceful to rob her of her dignity by dragging her before the press; for shame. I want to die with dignity not on display like the great Martha Raye!

[wstaubach]

Martha Raye came to Camp Holloway, Pleiku, Vietnam to see us. She is a great lady, promoted to Col. by the Special Forces guys. She will be missed by the military men who remembers her and her shows. She was a fixture straped in one of our helicopters going out to visit an A team in the boonies.

[sickkat44]

so sad to see such a great woman at the end of her days treated like this. what a bunch of hangers on and has-been publicity seekers. that interviewer is so cold and blackwell is so greasy. its said that romero would attend "the opening of a napkin" if invited. harris is an old queen, and what better way to be around old gay hollywood? its almost surreal to see everyone grandstanding and using martha as a way to get attention.....

[The101177]

Everyone is having a good time but her it seem. There's alot of old stars and people who haven't been seen for a long time, I think they just see this as a photo op.

Poor Martha, how terrible for her.

[ra86226]

what happened to her? I know she was old, but did she have a stroke. Poor woman doesn't look like herself

[cmcb09]

She had alzheimers/dementia, had suffered a series of strokes the past 6 years and also a few months prior had both legs amputated below the kneecap due to circulation problems. This was less then a year before she passed away and by this time she was pretty out of it.

[cmcb09]

But that didn't stop Mark Harris from frequently dressing her up and dragging her to various functions in a wheelchair although she was really in no condition to go out.

[lkrfan66]

I don't why they didn't do this for Martha sooner, her grandson nick was a good friend of mine throughout school, we use to go to her house sometimes, she was the nicest sweetest person you could ever want to meet !!!!

[inkey2]

I agree...this poor woman is totally out of it. It's a shamet they felt they needed to wheel her out like the Queen Mother. The look in her eyes is of total bewilderment, hasn't a clue as to why she is there

[Jaydublus]

The poor woman was half dead and clearly bewildered and probably very uncomfortable with the flash bulbs going off. This award should have been given in private.

[SillySeaWeed]

Absolutely disgraceful to do this to a bona fide national treasure. What Martha did for the Armed Forces was immeasurable, and these people let her 'husband' decide (on her incoherent behalf) to accept and appear for award she was deserved long ago at a time when she was clearly in the later stages of dementia. She wouldn't have wanted this appearance in such a condition. It's degrading & despicable to do this to a woman who carried herself with such spirit and integrity. RIP Colonel Maggie

[TheyH8MePoopsie]

btw is that Mama Fratelli from the Goonies there on the far left at 0:01 ?

[ferrierepc]

Well, this just was a mockery of this woman's contributions. Firstly, waiting until she was immobile to give it to her. To film it. To show it. To drug her up to get it. This was not inspirational, this was sad and tearful. I hope others find other clips that Ms Raye has done to appreciate her magic.

[tallulahdarling]

This is obscene. Parading this poor woman in front of these people when she is obviously out of it and doesn't know what on earth is going on. I think it's completely abusive.

[drbuzzmann]

It is shocking and it is abusive. Where is the concern and insight from her husband, her medical doctors or her "Hollywood Friends"? Where are her true caregivers? Amazingly this was recorded!

[graylyns]

Beautiful Lady! I pray that I can have the grace and strength that these WWII era Americans had. It is incredible what they went through--each one-- for the USA.

[xrayqqq]

Sad to compare with Hellzapoppin' girl singing and dancing in that way...

[2242bzo]

Martha Raye gets a Medal of Freedom? What a fucking disgrace. Give these stupid fucking medals to Ron Paul, Bill HIcks (post-humously), and to people like Peter Joseph, the guy who made the video "Zeitgeist Addendum". These people understand what true freedom is. Check them out, then compare them to Martha Raye. Thank you.

[maverick2900]

This is so sad....

[drbuzzmann]

Psychologically she appears to be suffering the full effects of dementia. A disease which is progressive and brings about long-term decline in cognitive functioning. The man or woman (it's unclear - possibly transgender) interviewing Caesar Romero was rather callous to state, "She looks great!" Mr. Romero truthfully reported, "I don't know how she feels cause she doesn't say anything, it's sad really." Mr. Blackman as per usual appears insincere, calculating, ambitious & disingenuous.

[timothydb]

I love her "husband" ...

[pethomas]

The interviewer is Skip E. Lowe - he has (or had) a public access show in LA/NY for years - Martin Short based part of his "Jiminy Glick" character on him.

[drudge20]

This is reminder to all of us. When you want to honnor someone you love. Do it before it's to late. THIS IS TOO LATE. Dam shame,she deserved much better. RIP.

[rjstur]

@drudge20 I could not agree more. I may only be 35, but I have watched all her films (Abbott and Costello inroduced me to her). I find myself mad that they waited so long. Love you Martha.

[musicom67]

Romero:"Yessss, I did ALOT of shows with her!! I did about 4 or 5 of them! " LOL! - Raye looks like "Weekend at Bernie's!"

[Cinderfellow]

The embalmers have arrived and have done their job.

[jockottawa]

how dare u insult such as great american

[defundthewar]

I'm a regular surfer of YouTube and although there's plenty of off-the-wall stuff here, this particular clip has got to be the most vomit-worthy perverse. A formal party, guests smiling and posing, photographers snapping... and the guest of honor completely lost, immobile, barely clinging to life at the center of all this.

Nevermind Mark Harris... Did any of the guests, for a moment, wonder, "What's wrong with this picture? Should I be participating in this?"

[MrKanoot]

If you watched the clip, Caesar Romero did exactly that. You're a pontificator. Idiot

[defundthewar]

Caesar (sic) Romero did exactly what, schmuck? Although I enjoy light reading, I cannot read your mind.

[TheyH8MePoopsie]

I can read your mind and it says to itself, "I'm a fuckface faggot!"

And that's you not me.

Your mind is telling me a lot of sick perverted things.

You sick fuck!

[defundthewar]

Yes, clearly many people's minds speak to you at various times of the day in different voices. Two words: get help.

I would no more make fun of you than I would somebody with a physical disease. I only feel compassion, and that is as far as I can go. It is for a qualified mental health professional to help you, and the first step is up to you to seek the help you need. It is nothing to be ashamed of.

[TheyH8MePoopsie]

lol,, i'm just a smartass 13 year old kid.

that's all.

what you said was just full of shit and boring

[defundthewar]

Horrible, disgusting. This great and generous lady on display, neither dead nor alive, not knowing where she was or what was going on, unable to do more than blink. No woman wants to be seen like that. I assume the husband was paid something. Maggie was not the only star to suffer such a fate. Kate Smith , Groucho Marx and Jimmy Cagney all were taken advantage of and abused by their final caretakers/conservators. There ought to be a law.

[dan1911a]

Yes, this is truly dreadful!

You know about her last hateful husband?

There was a British tv film about their relationship about 10 years ago, watch it if you can.

She was a truly great, GREAT talented star.

[defundthewar]

I know Mark Harris is gay because, to his credit, he has acknowledged that publicly, and that there was no physical relationship between him and Martha.  I don't know about hateful, but when you love or even just respect somebody, you don't put her on public display like a thing, an object. What I want to know is: all those who attended this ceremony and party, with Martha nearly comatose in the middle of it- what f'Crissakes, what on earth were they thinking?

[dan1911a]

Surely though he was just after the money, that & the glamor of mixing with all those old stars maybe.

A totally amoral callous character.

Martha's daughter was treated shamefully by Mark.

Cesor Romero seemed very complimentary at first then seemed, perhaps, a little concerned about her, perhaps non of the guests knew how bad she was?

That reporter seemed overly jovial in an annoying way, I would have quietly left that party & vomited once outside...

[anderson7293]

Does anyone know the name of the reporter and is he/she a man or a woman?Although it is difficult to see Martha at this stage of life, I think all the people who participated really meant well .

What I also found very sad was that Cesar Romero, who said "I feel fine" in this clip, passed away a little over a month later. The ceremony took place on Nov 15, 1993---Cesar died on Jan 1 1994.Martha actually outlived him. She died on Oct 19, 1994.

[TheJoCor]

@anderson7293 Sadly by the look of things I wish she hadn't. At least he got to go before he lost his worth. I don't think he was really feeling all that fine.

I stumbled across this by mistake looking for Martha Raye singing videos. I really wish I hadn't.

[revoile]

Wow: Bush did something smart! Imagine that.

[vivecavh]

she was married at this time to a guy 50 years younger than her who cut her off from her friends as well after she died-tore her beloved home down and built a hideous mcmansion in its place

[mkrobinson95]

I am certainly not defending Mark Harris (Martha's Widower) ... but saying the age difference was 50 years just isn't true. Martha was 75 and Mark was 42 when they were married on September 25, 1991.

[Permaglo]

It's wonderful that MR finally received some official gratitude for all her hard work for the troops, but it's a shame she couldn't be there for the honor. I would rather to remember her as her spunky, vivacious self rather than see her clearly debilitated and completely out of it. Out of respect for her the photo ops should have been kept to a bare minimum.

[glawsny]

Seeing this actually made me cry.This woman brought such joy and laughter,and was such a devoted American.God bless her.she'll always be in our hearts.

[godzillahulk]

she looks so different

[davidhazard71]

It's sad to see the early years compared to this, but you know she's with god now. I'm glad that during her lifetime she got the props she deserved. I was a child of the 70's so I remember her from Alice and tons of commercials, It wasn't until I was a teen that I saw her on older TV shows and in movies. Truly great she was. Anyone got a copy of the Steve Allen Show where she sings "Good Morning Sun" ? That was just awesome.

[chicago4mee]

aA true comedic legend!

[madman37115]

It's a crying shame that it took so long for Miss Martha Raye to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Thanks to the Medals for Maggie committee and the work of Noonie Fortin and others, she finally got the honor and recognition she deserved, among many others, for her tireless overseas duty entertaining U.S. troops. This ceremony took place on Nov. 15, 1993. Maggie lived until Oct. 19, 1994.

[MAYDAYES]

Did the movie with Beth Midler (Let's Here It For The Boys)was it about her life? Did she really had a son who was killed in the Vieanam War? Yes, it is ashame they took so long to reconized this woman. She was funny, and full of life. I remember her dentures commecials she did.

[madman37115]

Martha Raye believed FOR THE BOYS was indeed based on her experiences entertaining the troops. In fact, she sued Midler when the film was released, but lost the case. Apparently, Midler met with Maggie years before to talk about her overseas gigs. Raye's only child is a daughter, Melodye. Check out the videos I have posted at madman37115 that feature Maggie in her prime! Thanks for your response.