THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 31, 1995 TAG: 9505310461
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The only other time a celebrity visited the Hampton veterans hospital in the 22 years that Joseph Kero has lived there, the World War II vet missed the visit.
He had a doctor's appointment.
``It was that karate expert, I think - Chuck Norris,'' said Kero, 73, who suffers leg ulcers from what he calls ``the forgotten theater'' of China, Burma and India.
So Kero made sure he was available this time around - for a visit by film, stage and television star Charles Durning, lately of ``Evening Shade'' fame.
Durning, 72, is chairman of the 1995 National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans - a program begun more than 20 years ago to encourage volunteerism at the 171 hospitals operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
``Too many people have forgotten our vets,'' said Durning, a decorated World War II Army veteran who was awarded three Purple Hearts and the Silver Star for his wartime service in Europe.
``The government forgets about them, too, when a war's over. All they want is for someone to come and see them, to stop by and say hello,'' he said.
Durning spent two hours Tuesday shaking hands with patients, talking with them and staff members, and signing autographs.
Compassion showing in his blue eyes, he seemed reluctant at times to stop talking with the men.
``How long you been here, buddy? Where'd you see action? Is that where this happened?'' he would ask, pointing to legs outstretched from wheelchairs, or legs that are now stumps.
``Tell me about it,'' he would add.
Durning, who won a Tony Award for his stage portrayal of Big Daddy in ``Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,'' was in Hampton Roads after a Memorial Day concert in Washington. His next stop is a visit with family in New York.
Past chairmen of the campaign for veterans have included other actors as well as public figures, including Norris and Elizabeth Taylor. Last year's chairman was Peter Graves, movie and television star.
The Hampton center is the seventh Durning has visited since he took over as chairman in January.
Durning talked with Kero a long time. When the actor finally moved on to other people, Kero said, ``The patients were excited that he was coming, knowing he was a World War II vet. He's in pretty good shape, for someone in the upper bracket of life.
``He shows his concern. He seems different than most actors, who smile for the camera but don't mingle with the average person.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/Staff
Veteran Carl Hadinity, 69, has a Polaroid photo of Charles Durning
to remind him of the actor's visit to the Hampton veterans hospital
Tuesday. Durning is chairman of the 1995 National Salute to
Hospitalized Veterans.
by CNB