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VOL. 3/ISSUE 49
Lt. ‘Walkin’ Lawton Chiles inducted into Hall of Fame
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2015
Hospice opens new facility for veterans
Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE
Lt. “Walkin” Lawton Chiles didn’t have a highly-noted Army career, but the field artillery officer was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the National Defense Medal and United Nations Service Medal. Perhaps most folks remember Lt. Chiles as Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles. Soon more will know military service prepared him for his 1,003-mile hike from Key West to Pensacola in 1970. That hike got him the famous nickname “Walkin’ Lawton.” At the Sept. 29 meeting, the Florida Cabinet and Republican Gov. Rick Scott — a Navy veteran — unanimously voted to add Chiles to the Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame. Ron Sachs, Chiles communications director from 1992 to 1996, nominated the last Democrat elected to the Governor’s Mansion. “He was one of a kind and we’ll never see another like him,” Sachs told Veteran Voice. “His veteran status is not the leading edge of what people know about him.” Which Sachs would like to remedy. “That’s a pretty proud part of his legacy,” Sachs said. “Not only his military service, but what he did for veterans throughout his life.” Chiles, a Lakeland native, entered the Army after attending the University of Florida and served from 1953 to 1954. He made first lieutenant. Four years later Chiles won his first elected office — a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. In 1966 he successfully ran for the State Senate. In 1970 the largely unknown state legislator put all the chips on the table to run for the U.S. Senate. That’s the race when he did the famous 91-day walk. Sometimes he was alone. Other times folks
Photo courtesy of the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center Staff at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center had a ribbon cutting for the new 12,000-foot hospice in August. The 12-bed facility has private rooms with accommodations for family members to stay with veterans in hospice. From left to right are Dr. Maura Miller, director of hospice and palliative care, Dr. Haresh Patel, acting chief of staff, Dr. Ronald Williams, acting deputy chief of staff, Dr. Michael Silverman, associate chief of extended care and geriatric services, Janette Sharpe-Pau, hospice nurse manager, Cristy McKillop, associate director and Charleen Szabo, the medical center’s director. See story on page 3.
joined him. By the end of the hike, folks from the Keys to the Panhandle loved him and he handily won that election. Chiles served in the Senate until 1989. He left after getting heart surgery and developing clinical depression. He hoped to retire. Nevertheless, Democrats convinced him to run for governor. Chiles was public about seeking treatment for depression and taking Prozac, which some thought would torpedo his election chances. It didn’t. Chiles walked into the Governor’s Mansion after the 1990 elections. He won reelection in 1994 handing the Bush family its second defeat of that decade. Jeb Bush later told reporters he was always uncomfortable running against the homey and sensible Chiles in 1994. Just weeks before Chiles was to get his
long-awaited retirement, he died while exercising in the governor’s mansion. That was on Dec. 12, 1998. Sachs said he traces his employer’s and friend’s public service to his stint in the Army. “It deepened his level of patriotism,” Sachs said. “I think it helped propelled him toward public service. He devoted his entire career to public service. I think the military service instilled in him a desire to public service.” Sachs said the governor loved talking about his Army days, especially with other Korean War veterans. He also said Chiles’ push for pro-child legislation is legendary, which included his thrust to do what many thought im-
See CHILES page 5