recieved this from a friend...just thought it was interesting....
Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington was visiting Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio,Texas (BAMC) the
other day. This is where soldiers that have been evacuated
from Germany come to be hospitalized in the States, especially
burn victims. They have buildings there called Fisher Houses.
The Fisher House is a hotel where soldiers' families can stay,
for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the
hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base but as
you can imagine, they are almost completely filled most of the
time.
While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour
of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them
would cost to build. He took his check book out and wrote a
check for the full amount right there on the spot. The
soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to
get the word out to the American public, because it warmed
their hearts to hear it. I hope you will spread this story.
see...some good comes out of hollywood.
doc t.
JAGeorgia
04-09-2005, 06:33
I only wish this story had made it as a page one above the fold in the LA Times. Maybe some of his peers would fund more of these and live up to the slogan they love to quote from a different viewpoint when they say, "It takes a village"!
None the less, goodness can stand alone. Thank you Mr. Washington. I will think of it as the "Washington Monument Lite". More compassionate, less hype.
IMHO
Claim: Actor Denzel Washington made a large donation to the Fisher House Foundation after visiting Brooke Army Medical Center.
Status: Multiple — see below.
Denzel Washington visited Brooke Army Medical Center and expressed interest in donating to the Fisher House Foundation: True.
Denzel Washington whipped out his checkbook and "wrote a check out for the full amount (for a new Fisher House) right there on the spot": False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2005]
Hi everyone,
Dan told me a great story he heard and I wanted to share it with the rest of you. Pleaaase spread the word!
Danzel Washington was visiting BAMC (Brookes Army Medical Center, in San Antonio) the other day. This is where soldiers that have been evac'd from Germany come to be hospitalized in the States. They have buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a hotel that soldier's families can stay at, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled to the brim most of the time. While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He got his check book out and wrote a check out for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it. I hope you will spread this story!
Origins: In mid-December 2004, Denzel Washington — reportedly at the suggestion of a veteran known as "Ranger Jones" whom the actor met while filming the 1988 Civil War epic Glory — paid a visit to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The popular actor took part in a Purple Heart ceremony, presenting medals to three Army soldiers who were recovering in the hospital from wounds received in Iraq.
The city's Express-News newspaper described one of the medal recipients' reaction to her encounter with the screen star:
When Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington entered the auditorium at Brooke Army Medical Center, Spc. Connie Spinks, healing from wounds from Iraq, was content to hold his hand, get a gentle peck on the cheek and hear him whisper a sweet nothing in her ear.
"He just told me he was proud of me, and that was enough," said Spinks, who has a broken femur, fractured fibula, shattered ankle, two broken fingers and second- and third-degree burns on her hands and face.
That brief encounter was enough to lift the Asheboro, N.C., native, a world away from her memories of Oct. 13, when a suicide bomber killed two soldiers and injured Spinks, 22, and four others in a convoy.
"If I wasn't already in a wheelchair, I would have fainted" when the screen star kissed her, she said.
Oh, but there was one more thing she needed. She waved her mother, Annette, up for a hug and kiss from the leading man, who has portrayed young military heroes in "Glory" and "Crimson Tide."
"I had to do that for my mother," said Spinks, who will be treated at the hospital at least through March. "She's been here for me since October."
Fort Sam Houston, which houses the Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), also includes on its property a Fisher House within walking distance of the medical center. Fisher Houses are a network of "comfort homes," essentially low-cost hotels built on the grounds of military medical centers in the U.S. and abroad that provide all the amenities of home and enable family members of servicemen to stay close to loved ones who are undergoing medical treatment for illness, disease, or injury. The modest fees charged by Fisher Houses (about $10 per night) make them accessible even to familes with tight budgets (a situation common to many military families).
As might be expected with the U.S. military's having been engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq for the last few years, the demand for space in Fisher Houses at some military facilities has exceeded their capacities. According to the Fisher House Foundation, when Denzel Washington was at Fort Sam Houston in December 2004, he did visit its Fisher House and learn of their need for additional facilities, he has expressed interest in donating to the Fisher House Foundation, but he did not, as described above, "get out his checkbook" on the spot and write a check for the full amount needed to construct a new building. (Although Fisher House representatives initially told us Mr. Washington had already made a donation, they later said that although such a donation on the actor's part might be in the offing, it has not yet actually been made.)
Due to the generosity of the American public, the Fisher House Foundation has already collected enough money to build another house, although it will not necessarily be constructed at the Brooke Army Medical Center. Other possible sites for a new Fisher House include the Michael E. DeBakey Medical Center in Houston, the Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, the Madigan Army Medical Center in Fort Lewis, Washington, the VA Medical Center in Palo Alto, California, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
One version of the Denzel Washington e-mail in circulation concludes, "By the way . . . He has a son who is a Marine in Iraq." Although Denzel Washington does have two sons (and also two daughters), neither of his sons is a Marine or is stationed in Iraq. One son is far too young to be serving in the military (he's only thirteen years old), and Denzel's older son, 21-year-old John David Washington, is currently a student and football star at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
Last updated: 4 March 2005
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/denzel.asp
NousDefionsDoc
04-09-2005, 09:41
I doubt Denzel carries a checkbook or even remembers how to write one - I'm sure he has "people". Nice of him to visit though.
Cincinnatus
04-11-2005, 14:49
Damn. I should have known better. When something sounds too good to be true, it is.
The Reaper
04-11-2005, 15:55
I doubt Denzel carries a checkbook or even remembers how to write one - I'm sure he has "people". Nice of him to visit though.
He knows CSM(R) Wick, who says he is a good man.
TR
Kyobanim
04-11-2005, 18:02
I'm sure he's done things that aren't in the press. That's good enough for me. He's a good guy.
The fact that he visited soldiers and did it without ensuring that it would receive major media coverage speaks volumes about the mans character.
I'd rather have a quiet visit than a media photo op. Some media is bound to be there, but at least it wasn't a circus that took the spotlight away from where it belonged, on the soldiers.
Surgicalcric
04-14-2005, 08:38
...at least it wasn't a circus that took the spotlight away from where it belonged, on the soldiers.
Damn well put.
Crip
I just got my Purple Heart magazine & you guessed it...page 5, the story that Denzel wrote a check for $500,000. I wonder if they'll print a correction.