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In St. Louis with
ViętNow
Legend has it that
in Vietnam, sometime in 1969, two soldiers from the same hometown
(Rockford, Illinois) met each other on a hilltop near Pleiku and promised
each other that if they ever made it back home, they would get together to
talk over their wartime adventures. Sometime in the early 1980s, a group
of Vietnam veterans did come together to share their experiences.
From those beginnings, ViętNow was
formed...first with a group in Rockford, IL that just kept growing and
growing, until a few years later, the group went national, forming
chapters all around the country. Since those days, ViętNow has changed
with the times...starting with a focus on the Vietnam experience, and
along the way accepting all veterans with a hearty
"Welcome Home!"
and tackling veterans' issues in Congress,
on the streets feeding the homeless and in prisons right up to the present
day.
ViętNow flew Dr.
Darling to the 20th Annual Convention and asked that he fill in for their
Hepatitis C Chairman and FAIR member, Bob Kolling, who was not able to
attend. Dr. Darling was honored to give a presentation for Bob and
introduced to the veterans FAIR letters to Congress (A,
B +
C) and the publication of
our article in Hepatitis Magazine.
Dr. Darling gives his presentation while proudly wearing
the ViętNow hat and convention shirt
with
embroidered chapter and event information. Matt and Anne Davison surround Adrian
Cronauer,
who was portrayed by actor Robin Williams in the movie "Good Morning,
Vietnam!"
(Photo of Dr. Darling by Ken Nelson)
Even when enjoying a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game as a large group,
they never forget their brothers who are Prisoners of War and/or Missing
in Action.
Lt. Col. Janis Nark's (Ret.) embrace epitomizes the love the veterans have for
the
Gold Star Moms who attend annually. Their sons who fought in Vietnam
never came home yet they come to these conventions to be with their sons'
fellow veterans.
Dr. Darling accepts a financial contribution from
ViętNow President Rich Sanders in
support
of our efforts for fair and equitable research distributions for all
diseases. Dr.
Darling at dinner with Mr. & Mrs. Robert Gutsche.
With
the help of Donna, his wife and "audio
supervisor," Reverend John
Steer
serenaded the early
evening get-together and provided prayer.
Reverend Steer mixed with his beloved brothers and sisters with song and
the joining of
hands in a gesture of love between all veteran brothers,
sisters and loved ones.
Son's and Daughters in
Touch-They Were our Fathers is a national organization of the
children
of the Vietnam veterans who never came home.
We profile...
father....and son
Jim Sampers spoke of seeing a picture recently of a funeral service for an
Iraqi veteran
and in the picture was the veteran's six-year old son.
As his heartfelt voice told of
revisiting that difficult day when he said goodbye to his dad, Jim said, "That was me." His
emotional speech gave evidence of why
ViętNow provides financial support for these
children of their fallen brothers and sisters.
Part of the funding is used by the children to
return to
Vietnam to retrieve sand from where their dads and moms
fell in valor for their
country.
The banquet's featured speaker is a national hero and the youngest most
honored veteran
and Officer who fought in Vietnam, David Christian. David was twice
nominated for the
Congressional Medal of Honor; awarded the combat
Infantry Badge for 30 days under enemy
fire; the Distinguished Service
Cross for knocking out six enemy machine guns; the Air Medal
for 25 combat
assaults in 'hot' landing zones – plus seven Purple Hearts.
(text from
Philip Jones Griffiths book "Vietnam at Peace")
While Dr. Darling was in Palm Desert representing FAIR at the successful
"Tee Off 4 Life
Golf Classic" conceived and managed by Frank Fefferman (above), FAIR Board
member,
Bill Remak, and FAIR member Peter Fisher (below) were representing FAIR at the
National
Viral Hepatitis
Roundtable (NVHR) in Maryland. Their task: call on the NVHR to call for
more hepatitis research
funding from our government. Bill is Chair, California Hepatitis C
Task
Force and Peter
is Co-Chair of the Franklin County Hepatitis C
Project. Both are on
the Board
of Directors of the National Association of Hepatitis Task Forces
Bill Remak (file photos)
Dr. Darling with Peter Fisher
In Yucca Valley, CA to the City's Rotarians
At Loma Linda University (LLU) to Chaplain Aveling's
"Allocation
of Resources Class" with Ultrasound Nurses and Technicians
Top row: LLU students listen to Hollywood stars Rosie Perez
and Liz Taylor. Liz states emphatically,
"I will NOT be ignored" in her pleas for even more funding for AIDS.
Bottom row Palm Springs High
School students saw ABC's News Anchor John Stossel quiz the Chairman of the Senate
Appropriations
Committee, Arlen Specter (PA), on why each AIDS patients is having thousands of
dollars more spent on him/her
than a diabetic when diabetes kills more Americans than AIDS and
breast
cancer combined. Senator Specter said, "The NIH makes the decision as to where the funds
go, not Congress." From the powerful ABC video that Dr. Darling shows to
begin each FAIR
presentation. To see it now,
click here.
 At Palm Springs
High School, Palm Springs, CA
to successive health classes
Dr. Darling points out that the FAIR Board of Directors has many eminent
Doctors such
as Donald Hillebrand, MD, Medical Director of Scripps Green Medical Clinic
in La Jolla, CA (above)
and Charlie J. Goodacre, DDS, MSD
(below);
Dean of the School of Dentistry, Loma Linda
University;
Past President, American Board of Prosthodontics; Board
Member,
American College of Prosthodontists
In the ABC video from 1999 when he was President, President Clinton states,
"I'm
spending ten times as much on AIDS compared to what we're spending on
breast cancer,
heart disease and
diabetes." That makes no sense to ABC's John Stossel or to us. FAIR
points out now that the increase in funding since 1999 for AIDS--just the
increase--is
greater than the entire funding for every other disease except cancer and
cardiovascular disease."
Dr. Darling points out that CVD (cardiovascular disease) is the number one
killer
of Americans at 930,000 per year compared to 18,017 for AIDS yet our
government
is spending $3,084 on each AIDS patient in research versus $40 on each CVD
patient. The NIH has stated more funding is needed for
AIDS due to it affecting many children.
In the video, our country's most powerful AIDS activist states that we
need to
spend more on AID because it is killing children. In response,
Dr. Darling points
out to the PSHS classes that the CDC estimates that
there were
59 children under the age of 13 with AIDS in the most recent reported
period, 2003.
Congressman Istook addresses disproportionate AIDS
funding and states,
"The amount of funds for a disease can be 100 times greater than
another disease
The video features a hero of ours, Parkinson patient Joan Samuelson,
who
has walked the halls of Congress and testified before our Congresspersons
on the need
for more Parkinson funding. Joan is the Founder of
Parkinson's
Action Network
FAIR believes it is also important to educate the public on the organ
donor
crisis in America and that each person has the ability to save eight lives
by
being an organ donor when they pass away. At the
East Valley Republican Women's Federation of Indio, CA
(Note, FAIR is apolitical. FAIR fights for fair and equitable
research allocations for all
Americans regardless of political persuasion, race, gender, etc.)
Dr. Darling introduces FAIR (above) points out the FAIR Foundation Board
of Directors
is not only physicians, but also respected, dedicated disease advocates
such as
Ray Hill, Houston's leading activist for gay and lesbian citizens as
well as one of the
nations more outspoken HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C activists.
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