By Tommy Batboy He’s worth 4.4 billion dollars. When you reach that point of business and financial success there isn’t much in this world you can’t do. Private jets, mansion, you name it Ross Perot can have it- at the snap of his fingers. Yet, unlike many of his brethren in the billionaires club, Ross Perot has spent his money and much of the influence he has garnered as a member of high society in a quest to help the veterans of the United States. For almost 40 years he has been dedicated to ensuring our faithful warriors are helped in anyway he can. For Mr. Perot this is a journey that started all the way back in the Vietnam War when he met the wife of fighter pilot Captain Jerry Singleton, who’d been shot down in 1965 over North Vietnam. Captain Singleton’s wife, Bonnie, met Mr. Perot in 1969 and he immediately decided to help her. Flying her all over the world as she searched for clues. Eventually, thanks largely to Mr. Perot’s support of Bonnie’s quest, Captain Singleton was found. In 1973 Captain Singleton was reunited with his wife and finally met his son, Richard. Mike Clausen won the Medal of Honor in 1970 as a helicopter crew chief. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2004. Once Ross Perot found out about the situation he sent his private plane to pick Mike Clausen up, brought him to be treated at Baylor medical center, and footed the bill for all his medical treatment. If you poke around the internet you’ll find dozens of examples like these. One that is very close to me, personally, is when he paid for the evaluations and top of the line prosthetics for my former team leader when he lost his leg fighting in Iraq. General (Ret.) Wayne Downing, former commander of USSOCOM, once said "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” For Mr. Perot the biggest thing he could gain, outside of the quiet joy of helping people, would have been positive press for what he did; yet he never sought any recognition. He never had his PR person send out a press release or go off the record with some reporter or use any of the tricks so many rich people have used to let others know about their “good deeds.” He didn’t even highlight his contributions during his Presidential bid. Think about the juxtaposition of his actions to those of our elected officials. In fact the only reason most of us have even heard many of these incredible stories of generosity is because he was awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Award for his devotion to helping Veterans in 2004. You would think that he’d finally have said something about what he did - at the very least give himself a well deserved pat on the back for investing so much time, energy and resources into helping the men and women of this country who’d served. Yet, in an interview with the Dallas Morning News he repeatedly said this: "My role was insignificant. The men and women who do so much for us are the ones who deserve the attention." We here at Ranger Up disagree, Sir. Your role is far from insignificant. You’ve spent millions of dollars, hundreds of hours, and only you know how much political capital and personal favors to ensure that America’s service members have been and are still being taken care of. Thank you Mr. Perot. Not only for what you have done, but also for the humility and selfless service you’ve done it with. Copyright of Tommy Click below to read more Heroes of the Week! |
 |
|
Similar Items: