NewsLine - June 2013 - (Page 39)

SPRING 2013 Hospice Patient and Veteran Visits World War II Memorial Honoring Service is an Important Part of One Man’s End-of-Life Experience On a brisk Monday morning in April, 92-year-old Veteran Kenneth Baeth absorbed the sight of the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC for the first time. From the viewpoint of his wheelchair, Baeth participated in a ceremony honoring his service along with that of dozens of fellow Veterans from his home state of Montana. Each of the Veterans was flown to Washington under “Big Sky Honor Flight” a Montana program that is a member of the Honor Flight Network, a non-profit organization created to honor America’s WWII Veterans for all their sacrifices. Kenneth Baeth and son, Roger, visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC • CONTENTS Hospice Patient and Veteran Visits World War II Memorial; page 1 National Hospice Foundation 9th Annual Gala; page 2 Lighthouse of Hope Fund Provides Meaningful and Memorable Experiencesfor Adult Hospice Patients; page 3 Foundation Board Chair, Samira Beckwith Elected Vice-Chair of National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship; page 3 Honor. Remember. Invest.; page 4 NHPCO Begins Collaborative Efforts with the Funeral Industry; page 4 Run to Remember: A Look at Two Special Kentucky Bourbon Chase Runners; page 5 The program, with 121 hubs in 41 states, brings World War II Veterans to Washington, DC so that they may see the memorial erected in their honor. Baeth is facing the end of life with the help of his children and Rocky Mountain Hospice. He traveled to Washington with his oldest son, Roger and several volunteers from Rocky Mountain Hospice. “It takes a lot of courage to get old,” said Roger. His father was nervous about traveling because of his health, Roger said, but he was loving every minute of the experience. Baeth contracted mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure while working in a mine as a young man; he is now dying of heart disease. Making the trip required extra physical therapy to increase his stamina and mobility. At the age of 20, Kenneth Baeth’s dream of flying became a reality when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. It was 1942, in the midst of World War II. Standing at 5’2” tall, Kenneth Baeth looked like a perfect candidate to be a nose gunner, a man who crawled inside the nose of a fighter plane to operate a machine gun turret. “I didn’t dream it would be so big,” Baeth remarked about the memorial. “The U.S. can pull itself together to do anything,” he said. During the ceremony, Baeth met another nose gunner who fought in the Pacific during the war. The two exchanged phone numbers and planned to talk and exchange stories upon returning to Montana. The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization works with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to meet the unique needs of Veterans like Baeth with terminal illness. The We Honor Veterans program, developed in collaboration with the VA, provides local hospices with resources to broaden education and understanding of how best to honor our Veterans and respect their wishes and concerns at the end of life. Funds raised by the National Hospice Foundation support the We Honor Veterans program. To learn more about We Honor Veterans, visit: www.wehonorveterans.org. To learn more about the Honor Flight Network, visit: www.honorflight.org. To make a donation, visit www.nationalhospicefoundation.org/veterans A newsletter of the National Hospice Foundation | Spring 2013 1 http://www.wehonorveterans.org http://www.honorflight.org http://www.nationalhospicefoundation.org/veterans

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NewsLine - June 2013

Orchestrating Complex Care
A Message From Don
Determining Caseloads
MLC Conference Sponsors (display ad)
Quality on Display
Glatfelter Healthcare Practice (display ad)
PT in Hospice
Simione Consulting (display ad)
NHPCO Affinity Program (display ad)
Award Winners Recognized at MLC
2014 Circle of Life Call for Nominations
Member News
Compliance Tip
New Online Courses from NHPCO’s E-OL
Videos Worth Watching
News From NHF

NewsLine - June 2013