Local doctor, former POW Hal Kushner to deliver his own 'Gettysburg Address' Monday
Hal Kushner has been a sought-after speaker at military gatherings and various special occasions in recent years, and this year's Memorial Day holiday brings a particularly special assignment.
Kushner, of Daytona Beach Shores, will deliver the keynote address Monday for the ceremonies at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.
"I'm overwhelmed to be asked," Kushner said Friday morning, noting how the list of past keynote speakers at Gettysburgh, dating to 1868, includes six sitting U.S. presidents.
Kushner was a U.S. Army flight surgeon in Vietnam and was taken prisoner by the Viet Cong after surviving a helicopter crash in 1967. He spent 5½ years as a POW, first in the jungles of South Vietnam, then in North Vietnam at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" POW camp, but only following a 57-day march at gunpoint.
TELLING HIS STORY 'I lived it:' Volusia vet recalls horrors in Ken Burns' Vietnam documentary
MEMORIAL DAY WEATHER Low pressure system to bring more rain to region but clear out in time for Memorial Day
Following his release and eventual retirement from the Army, he moved to Daytona Beach in 1977 and began a long, ongoing career as an ophthalmologist — at 82, he works roughly nine months of the year and spends the summers in Maine.
Kushner's profile was raised significantly with his role as part of the 2017 Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War. He's often called upon to speak at military affairs, and was also the keynote speaker for the 2018 Memorial Day service at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.
Monday's speech takes place at the most hallowed battleground on American soil, site of the pivotal battle, from July 1-3 in 1863, in the Civil War.
"My first thought was, 'I wish my mom and dad were alive,'" Kushner said. "They were both fierce patriots of the 'Greatest Generation.' My dad served in the Pacific and European theaters of World War II, and was a combat-wounded veteran, as I am. My mom gave gallons of blood in WWII.
"Our family was taught that we owed our country a great debt. I am so fortunate that I am not among the fallen. But I can speak to them and express our collective gratitude."
Monday's ceremony, beginning at 2 p.m., will be live-streamed on the Facebook page of the Gettysburg Memorial Day Commission.
In Vietnam, Kushner served with the 1st Squadron, 9th US Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam.
Kushner is a longtime member of the Board of Trustees of the Army Aviation Hall of Fame, and also a member of the National Veterans’ Affairs Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War.
He is a member of the Vietnamese Helicopter Pilots Association, The Silver Sabre Society, The Order of Military Medical Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross Society, an honorary life member of the River Rats (Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association), and was awarded the Order of St Michael Gold Medal in 2016.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: His own 'Gettysburg Address': Former POW Hal Kushner is keynote speaker
