2011.01.19: January 19, 2011: Dianne Bell writes: An unexpected meeting with Sargent Shriver
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2011.01.19: January 19, 2011: Dianne Bell writes: An unexpected meeting with Sargent Shriver
Dianne Bell writes: An unexpected meeting with Sargent Shriver
I had taken my bike out for a spin. As I glided down a hill, a motorist opened her door, propelling me over the handlebars and knocking me briefly unconscious. I remember next a kind man, who had pulled his car to the curb, asking me questions. I must have answered coherently enough because he picked me up, deposited me in his sedan and headed to nearby Georgetown University Hospital Semiconscious, I only remember worrying that the blood flowing from the gash in my head would stain the car's upholstery. At the hospital, I was in for a surprise when one person after another greeted my rescuer: "Hello, Mr. Shriver."
Dianne Bell writes: An unexpected meeting with Sargent Shriver
An unexpected meeting with Sargent Shriver
He reached out to help a stranger in distress
By Diane Bell, UNION-TRIBUNE
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 9:30 p.m.
The death of Sargent Shriver this week had special significance to me that had nothing to do with his Kennedy connections or his Peace Corps reign.
We met on a residential street in Washington D.C.'s Georgetown under less than ideal circumstances. It was a spring morning in 1986 - a day off from my duties as senior deputy editor of U. S. News & World Report.
I had taken my bike out for a spin. As I glided down a hill, a motorist opened her door, propelling me over the handlebars and knocking me briefly unconscious.
I remember next a kind man, who had pulled his car to the curb, asking me questions. I must have answered coherently enough because he picked me up, deposited me in his sedan and headed to nearby Georgetown University Hospital.
Semiconscious, I only remember worrying that the blood flowing from the gash in my head would stain the car's upholstery. At the hospital, I was in for a surprise when one person after another greeted my rescuer: "Hello, Mr. Shriver."
I received white glove treatment, in more ways than one, as pins were inserted in my left elbow and hand. His act of kindness was surely but a blip in the day to Sargent Shriver. For me, however, it further defined the man who had made Peace Corps history and to whom I forever will be indebted.
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Headlines: January, 2011; Shriver; Sargent Shriver (Director 1961 - 1966); Figures; Peace Corps Directors; Maryland
When this story was posted in June 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest. |
| How Volunteers Remember Sarge As the Peace Corps' Founding Director Sargent Shriver laid the foundations for the most lasting accomplishment of the Kennedy presidency. Shriver spoke to returned volunteers at the Peace Vigil at Lincoln Memorial in September, 2001 for the Peace Corps 40th. "The challenge I believe is simple - simple to express but difficult to fulfill. That challenge is expressed in these words: PCV's - stay as you are. Be servants of peace. Work at home as you have worked abroad. Humbly, persistently, intelligently. Weep with those who are sorrowful, Care for those who are sick. Serve your wives, serve your husbands, serve your families, serve your neighbors, serve your cities, serve the poor, join others who also serve," said Shriver. "Serve, Serve, Serve. That's the answer, that's the objective, that's the challenge." |
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