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| Don Gibson |
(reposted from Rochester's local paper, The Democrat and Chronicle 5/24/2011
Rummaging in his basement two years ago this month, Don Gibson was frantically searching for a mental kick-start to help him run around the RIT campus with 9,000 others.
"I was in no shape to make 3½ miles," he said. "I've been a 2½-pack-a-day smoker since junior high school. I was panicking. I knew it was going to be rough.
"For some reason, I spotted a black flag rolled up in a corner with some military surplus stuff. It was instantaneous. I thought 'I'm going to run for the POWs and MIAs. That'll do it. It'll get me through it.'"
With that rectangle of nylon rippling over his right shoulder a week later at the 2009 Rochester Chase Corporate Challenge, the heavy heart of the 52-year-old Army veteran pounded hard and strong, fueled by adrenaline flowing for his cause.
"I never stopped. It worked," he said, "but it was a brutal 38 minutes," as he recalled memories of Army buddies who told of atrocities in the Vietnam War and were "crazy and screwed up" from fellow soldiers missing in combat. "I got a lot of strange looks, but I also got a lot of appreciative cheers, too.
"We as a nation must never, ever forget about those who suffered the most — the POWs, MIAs and their families," Gibson said.
As the cheerleader and inspirational leader of his employer's team from Unity Health System, Gibson is running Chase's 21st annual 3.5-mile race/walk/ party at Rochester Institute of Technology for the third time tonight.
Same cause, similar burden.
"The first time I saw him that year," recalled co-worker Patty Corvaia of Penfield, Unity's public relations manager, "I said to him, 'wow, that's a lot you've put on yourself.' He talked about why he's doing it, and I really respected his passion and commitment.
"I'm the sister of a Marine, my only brother. He served twice in Iraq, and things happen. I don't have words to properly express my admiration for all who serve."
Tonight Gibson, who's 5-foot-6 and 165 pounds, will be laced into new tactical SWAT boots, half the weight of combat boots but not fancy high-tech running shoes like most of the others. He'll wear what the Army calls BDUs (battle dress uniform), pea-green cotton camouflage pants instead of a pair of technical half-splits, and an OD (olive drab) shirt.
He'll add a stopwatch on his left wrist and a camo headband. The same flag that he dug out of the basement of the home near Genesee Valley Park that he shares with his third wife, Lisa, will fly atop a three-piece aluminum pole. While it unfurls behind him, thoughts of the young years he left behind for the Army will swirl in his head once again.
"I was a troublemaker way back," he admits, dredging up his grade-school and teen years. He was born in Syracuse but grew up in Avon, Livingston County. "It was a long time ago now. I did the hippie thing ... marched with the protest cards, long hair ... the whole bit.
"I started smoking when I was probably 8 or 9. It was my job to take out the garbage. I'd dig the butts of my mother's Parliaments out and light 'em up. By 13 I was hooked.
"I dropped out of high school for a while, went back, then didn't quite finish with my class in 1974. The Avon police chief will probably remember me. Nothing serious, though. My buddies and I streaked through Tom Wahl's one time. About the only time I ever ran!
"My family life was tough, living with nine others from my parents' multiple marriages. I had to get out of there. I finally got my GED and said '(bleep) it, I'm joining the Army.' My draft number was lower than 50, so I enlisted when I was 18."
Within months, as a Specialist E4, he was teaming with a platoon of 40 or 50 others at a base south of Heidelberg, Germany, on a highly classified assignment: assembling and disassembling 50-foot-long nuclear missiles.
"They were on flatbed trucks," he said, "We moved them around all the time. When we heard the code 'blackjack' we had to set up or break down all the pieces in 30 minutes. They timed us.
"All of us knew that if we ever had to launch one of those things, we were dead. The enemy would immediately retaliate."
Hundreds of Vietnam veterans circulated through the base after combat, and although Gibson never got sent to the South Pacific, he saw "guys who were really screwed up. A pretty scary bunch. They told some horrific stories. Some spent years in a POW camp and they talked about guys who'd disappeared. You wouldn't believe the stories.
"Hearing how crazy it was, I don't know if I could have coped. It struck me that I'd rather be killed than be captured. Having to spend years in a POW camp would be absolute living hell."
After his two-year hitch, he was discharged with his sanity, returned home and "pretty much forgot about the Army."
He got married, had two kids and moved into working life as a civilian at Bryant and Stratton College in the Temple Building in downtown Rochester, where he used his GI Bill money for an education and met his first wife.
He also built an online military surplus business, and it was his accountant for that venture, Carol Pietrzykowski of Price-Waterhouse, who challenged him to try the 2009 race.
"She was a runner," Gibson said. "I hated running. Ever since boot camp. I had to run a mile in 20 minutes. I don't think I made it.
"I was a wrestler once, 10th grade, but never a runner."
In 2004 he sold the military surplus business, with its $50,000 of inventory, and joined Unity as a systems analyst, where he was soon to work alongside a native of South Vietnam.
"I asked him 'Why do you carry the flag? Why do you run in boots? It must be very hard,'" said Ken La of Gates, a 41-year-old native of southern Vietnam. He and Gibson are part of a 10-person IT team based at Unity Hospital, St. Mary's campus on Genesee Street, one of 70 Unity locations in the Rochester area.
"He told me why," La said, "and right then, I knew I was going to do this run with the team. I'd worked for Chase for 11 years and never participated with them, but Don's inspiration touched home. I told myself I've got to do it.
"I was one of the Vietnam boat people helped by Catholic Family Service. I lived way south of Saigon, but I remember ... I was 7 or 8 at the time ... seeing the downfall and all the U.S. servicepeople. I have a lot of respect for all U.S. servicemen and women."
Joanie Szczupakowski of Ogden, a Unity benefits representative, said Gibson is equally committed to his co-workers and the Unity Corporate Challenge team.
"He took the Fleet Feet No Boundaries 5K course with a lot of us," she said, "and when he finished a training run, he'd turn around, go back out and run in with someone else. I'm a whole lot slower than he is, but it was so helpful to have somebody next to you.
"He really encourages everybody."
Unity's team captain, senior vice president and chief financial officer Tom Crilly, said Gibson epitomizes the Unity mission of making a difference in the health and well-being of the community.
The company supports many health and wellness initiatives for its employees, including paying $50 of the $75 fee for Fleet Feet's NoBo course and providing one of the largest tents and food-and-beverage spreads at the Corporate Challenge for its 202-member team.
"Don's one who's taken advantage of his opportunities to build a better lifestyle for himself and those around him," Crilly said. "He's a strong-willed individual who's committed to the training.
"He's also very giving. He's a cheerleader for his teammates, and a big help at events. He helps set up and take down. One of the last to leave."
For the most part, Gibson shrugs off the praise and wants to keep his flag-flying commitments low-key. Other than the Corporate Challenge and the Veterans Outreach Center's Pound the Ground for Vets 5K in late August, he says he'll not be showing up with flag or uniform at other races.
He ran the Flower City Challenge 5K May 1 in conventional racing garb. He finished in 28 minutes, 30 seconds.
"I don't want to make this out to be more than it is," he said, "but now I have a personal stake in this, too. I'm liking this running more, and Unity has a good bunch of folks to be with.
"Since I've started training I've cut back on my smoking. I'm using e-cigs now (electronic cigarettes) and I'm getting faster. My goal is to finish the Corporate Challenge in 35 minutes this year."
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