Vol. 17, No. 35, February 28, 2005

IN THIS ISSUE:

This Reveille Home Page | The Friday Program: BBRC Blessed by the Visit of an Angel | Announcements | Don Deasy’s Looking Good! | Mercer Island Rotary Goes On the Run | Friday Potpourri | Why Are You Reading This? | Clark Kent Emerges as Superman of the Month | Student of the Month: Jason Ericson | BBRC Welcomes New Members Hendershott & Kippen | A Visit to Sagebrush Land | Web Fun

The Friday Program:
BBRC Blessed by the Visit of an Angel

For those of you who missed this meeting, you missed a rare BBRC moment. We were indeed blessed by the visit of an angel.

This angel is Betty Tisdale, founder and president of HALO. This organization is dedicated to bettering the lives of orphans and at-risk children around the world, especially in developing countries, such as Vietnam, Columbia and Afghanistan. She is world-famous for her rescue of 219 orphans (plus her five adopted Vietnamese children) from Al Loc orphanage during the fall of Saigon in 1975. During her short time with the BBRC, Betty shared her amazing story through a documentary video by Tom Brokaw and a short recap in her own words.

Betty was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She looked at herself as a mere secretary, but during the Vietnam War, she became increasingly aware of the plight of the countless orphans in hopeless situations. She took it upon herself to bring hope and solve the problem.

During the Vietnam War, Betty married a military medical doctor who already had five boys of his own. Together, they adopted five Vietnamese girls to round out the family to an even ten children. Her efforts during the war sponsored the orphans and supported all of their basic needs.

As a former secretary to a prominent U.S. Senator, she learned how to network and drop names. She admits that she worked “by hook or by crook.” She learned that when she needed help, she needed to start at the top of the organization and work down. As an example, when her orphans later needed shelter and other facilities at Fort Benning, Georgia, she failed to get a response from the commanding general. Not to be deterred, she contacted the Secretary of the Army. That didn’t work either, so she hit him where it counted: she called his mother. She immediately had all the support at Fort Benning that she needed.

But back to Vietnam: as the U.S. began to withdraw, the Communists began to overrun South Vietnam. It was clear to Betty that all of her orphans would be lost once the Communist army was in complete control. She acted fast to start the evacuation. The U.S. government agreed to help in the effort, but only if the South Vietnamese government also agreed. At that point, she ran into a huge barrier: the children couldn’t leave without birth certificates, and they had none. Also, the government refused to let any child over the age of ten leave the country. Of her group of over 400, only 219 fit the age requirement.

In a crash project of creativity, Betty and her helpers made up hundreds of birth certificates, many with made-up birthdates, since that information was just not available. Through her coordination and direct efforts, the children were airlifted out on U.S. military transports in the very final days of the collapse of the South.

When she arrived back in the U.S., her efforts did not stop. After arranging the temporary shelter at Fort Benning, Georgia, Betty headed up the effort to have these children adopted. Large numbers of them were sick, not with just one illness, but often a variety of communicable diseases. Despite the challenges, every one of those children was adopted in 30 days.

Many years later, Betty is now a grandma in Seattle. She was reunited with one of the orphans through a Life Magazine promotion a few years ago. That visit from one of her orphans was televised nationally, and it sparked the reunification with scores of others she had rescued.

Betty doesn’t rest on her laurels. Her organization, HALO (Help and Loving Hands) is now deeply involved in supporting orphans and others in need in places like Afghanistan, Mexico and Columbia, as well as Vietnam. Betty’s heroics have been captured in a made-for-television movie, and she has received numerous awards and recognitions for her amazing efforts, including the Medal of Honor from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The energy during Betty’s presentation was nothing less than inspiring. Sitting in the back of the room, it was interesting to note that nobody was looking around ­ their gazes were riveted on Betty and her presentation. Also, maybe they weren’t looking around because there were few dry eyes in the house, because it is impossible to hear such a story first hand without being overcome with awe and inspiration.

As is the tradition, at the end, President Norm presented Betty with a certificate stating that in her name, over 1200 pounds of food will be given to food banks in the area. In comparison to her great humanitarian feats, such a modest donation would ordinarily seem almost insignificant. However, Betty’s true spirit shone through ­ because of her drive to help others, it was clear that she was grateful to be able to be part of one more avenue to help.

TOP

CLICK HERE
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE BBRC CENTENNIAL PROJECT

Reveille | Reveille Archives | Meeting Information | Calendar | How to Join the BBRC | Officers & Directors | Committees | Online Member Directory | Short Directory PDF File | Directory Info Form | Set Up User Info | Forgot User Info | Meeting Make-Up Form | Attendance Statistics | New Member Application (PDF File) | Expense-Funding Request Form (PDF File) | Rotary Foundation Pledge Form | District 5030 Website & Newsletter | 2004 Raffle Winner | About the Raffle | Email Us

DISTRICT 5030 CLUB INFORMATION
Includes links to club websites and where and when other clubs meet.