On a day the city of Independence, MO. celebrated the birthday of Harry S. Truman, Sen. John Warner (R-VA) of Alexandria was presented the Good Neighbor award named in honor of the 33rd president.

Warner was presented with the 2008 Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award on Thursday in downtown Kansas City. The luncheon that was held was the 56th annual commemorating Trumans legacy.

Warner was honored for 60 years of public service, including three decades in the Senate. Warners bipartisan approach to national security and military issues played a part in the selection, according to Indpendence (Mo.) Examiner. Theres a golden rule in the Senate and thats you dont miss votes, Warner said. I did it to be here today. I did it for a special reason. Ive always admired President Truman.

Warner said his path in life has come full circle with Trumans, offering anecdotes about his time serving in the Navy in 1945 during World War II and the Marine Corps in 1950 during the Korean War. I served under him as commander in chief in the last year of World War II, and I served under him during the Korean War, Warner said. There are only a few that have had that privilege.

Warner, a five-term senator and the second-longest serving senator in Virginias history, also credited Truman with helping to steer his life in the right direction. Had it not been for that G.I. Bill, Warner said, I would have not had the resources to go to college because of the untimely death of my father. The second G.I. Bill in 1952 got me my law degree. Just stop and think how one man stopped and changed my life.