Today America is friends
with Vietnam again partly because of Dr. Heimlich. A few years
ago Dr. Heimlich went to Viet Nam to try to build a friendship
between the two countries. Again and again he was told, "Everyone
in Vietnam knows your name. Your valve saved thousands of our
people." "I was surprised," he says now. "At
the beginning of every meeting, someone would say, almost like
a prayer, 'Dr. Heimlich will live in the hearts of the Vietnamese
people forever.' When I first heard this, I burst out crying.
(Heroes
of Ohio by Rick Sowash, 1998)
In 1993, I visited Vietnam
with a group of surgeons participating in the program "People-to-People
Ambassadors," who were meeting at the Hanoi Airport with
Vietnamese colleagues. When he introduced me, the head Vietnamese
surgeon said, "Oh, Dr. Heimlich, everyone in Vietnam knows
your name." Naturally, I thought he was referring to the
Maneuver. Then he said, "The Heimlich Chest Drain Valve
saved tens of thousands of our people during the war. The American
Friends Service Society (Quakers) kept us supplied with Heimlich
Valves." After that, each meeting was opened by the chairperson
saying, "Dr. Heimlich will live in the hearts of the Vietnamese
people forever." Knowing the Valve had saved lives on both
sides of that destructive war was one of the greatest moments
in my life. (Henry
Heimlich MD, Heimlich
Institute website)
Haunted by the image of a
Chinese soldier who died on the operating table after being shot
in the chest in 1945 Dr Heimlich developed a valve to drain blood
and air out of the chest cavity. The device was given to soldiers
to carry with them in case they got shot in the chest and the
Quakers supplied the devices to the Vietnamese. "The most
moving thing in my life was in 1993 when I went to Vietnam with
25 chest surgeons. I was introduced as 'Dr Heimlich, whose name
is known by everyone'. "I thought it was because of the
Heimlich Manoeuvre, but then the man introducing me said it was
because of the chest drain valve which saved tens of thousands
of lives in Vietnam. "The Quakers had kept them supplied
with the valves. "He said 'Dr Heimlich, you live in the
hearts of the Vietnamese people". (Heimlich:
Still saving lives at 83 by Jane Elliott, BBC News, March
9, 2003)
From Outmaneuvered
by Thomas Francis, Radar Magazine, 11/10/05:
According to Heimlich's press
statements the (Heimlich chest valve) saved tens of thousands
of lives, including among the North Vietnamese, after the American
Friends Service Committee shipped valves to both sides in the
war. Henry often tells the story of a trip to Vietnam during
which he received a hero's welcome because of his valve. But
the Quakers have no record of distributing the valve. Peter contacted
the American Friends Service Committee, the Quaker group that
provides aid in foreign conflicts. "They checked deep in
the archives and contacted several staffers from the '60s,"
says Peter. "No one had even heard of the Heimlich valve."
AFSC spokeswoman Janis Shields says that if the valves had been
shipped to North Vietnam, there would have been documents. The
AFSC's shipments to North Vietnam consisted primarily of penicillin.
And, of course, providing
US medical supplies to an enemy army in wartime would constitute
treason.
Even after the story was exposed
as false in the 2005 Radar article, my father continues to repeat
it and others continue to publish it:
April 20, 2007: Video
excerpt from his speech to the "Northwest Naturopathic
Physicians Convention," Portland, OR
September 2008: From Sitting,
Thinking, Creating, Saving by Dr. Henry Heimlich, chapter
from One Can Make a Difference by Ingrid Newkirk (PETA
founder/president):
In 1993, years after the war,
I was invited to Vietnam. When I got off the plane in Hanoi,Vietnam's
head surgeon as introduced to me. He said, "Dr. Heimlich
needs no introduction. Everyone in Vietnam knows his name."
I thought he was referring to the Heimlich maneuver. Then he
said, "The Heimlich chest drain valve saved tens of thousands
of our people. Dr, Heimlich will live in the hearts of the Vietnamese
people forever." I broke down and cried outright.
January 5, 2009 , Dr.
Henry Heimlich, Medical Innovator by Adam Phillips, Voice
of America News:
Valve saves lives of American,
Vietnamese soldiers
Before long, the valve
was also in common use by the North Vietnamese army, America's
enemy in the conflict. That pleases Heimlich, who wants his medical
inventions to benefit all people, without distinction. Long after
the war was over, he recalls, the Vietnamese government invited
him and a delegation of other surgeons to visit as its honored
guest. "They said I would 'live on in the hearts of the
Vietnamese people forever'," he says, adding, "I cried
at that moment."
Despite me having repeatedly
informed VOA News that they published false information, the
publicly-funded organization has failed to correct their report.
Here's
the correspondence.