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GLENN MABSON |
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com
November 17, 2004
5 of Hawai'i's unsung heroes awarded
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Each year, the national Jefferson Awards recognize everyday heroes for
their work through volunteerism.
Five Hawai'i residents of the award will be honored Friday. One will
represent the state at presentation ceremonies in Washington, D.C.
The Jefferson Awards were founded by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S.
Sen. Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard in 1972 to give recognition to
unsung heroes across the nation.
This year's Hawai'i recipients are:
GLENN MABSON
Glenn Mabson suffers from traumatic epilepsy as a result of beatings
he received during the 18 months he served as a civilian prisoner of
war in Vietnam. In 1996, he suffered such a violent seizure that he
was arrested after tearing up a friend's house.
While in police custody he continued to suffer seizures and he
said authorities refused to provide him with his medication. When he
was released, Mabson considered suing the county.
Instead, Mabson decided to work with the county and provide police and
other law enforcement officers with proper training so they can
recognize and deal with people who suffer seizures. With the help of
his mother, Mabson created the Epileptic Foundation of Maui and has
trained more than 3,300 emergency personnel through the foundation's
two programs — First Aid to Epilepsy and Seizure Instructional
Control.
The foundation also established a 24-hour hot line to help people who
suffer from seizures. The hot line is credited with reducing the
number of seizure-related deaths on Maui.
Mabson, 64, said he was surprised and "flabbergasted" when
he found out he had won a Jefferson Award. "I love doing this
work," he said.
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On 9 Oct 2004 at 3:42, GlennEFM@aol.com
wrote:
....Because of the time, effort,
and stress involved. I simply told Joe (and you) that I was
not a POW, I was not in the armed forces, nor was I in any
way, associated with that horrible action which took place in
Southeast Asia during that (Viet Kong) war. To tract
down verifications,
witnesses, and testimony to prove the opposite is mute, to
something that I couldn't care less about in any way,
especially 35 years later.
Again ,thank you for your
courtesy, you truly are a
representative of our country
"MAHALO"
Glenn Mabson
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Then let's have the
specific name of that "national news organization," and the
specific dates you were captured and released, and the location of
each.
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From:
GlennEFM@aol.com
Date sent:
Sat, 9 Oct 2004 21:25:18 EDT
Subject:
(no subject)
........, Aloha .... Of course, I
will supply you with the proper information regarding this
error. First, I must remember, and locate some of the
individuals involved, if they are still alive after so many
years. I will contact a person in Los Angeles who may assist
in making this possible.
Be advised, that I will be in
breech of an agreement I made with
that news corp. by referring to
them in any way. The news item
was released in error, and excused
that one time. I'll make every effort
to supply any, and all, information regarding this matter
However, I will not violate the contract. I'm not interested
in being accused of a falsehood, I could care less, but I am
of being sued.
"MAHALO"
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I
am Glenn Mabson I
have
never claimed to be a vet in that disgusting VC war, although I
was held for 18 months while working for a private company as an Audio
Engineer, I've never at any time been in the armed forces. In
fact I was on a collage draft deferment, and took a job with a National
News organization, and went there working with a news team!
Glenn Mabson |
Community - v4 Issue 06 - Maui Time Magazine
August 29, 2000 |
Founding the Foundation -- One man’s refusal to leave the path of
purpose
Epileptic Foundation of Maui founder Glenn Mabson ....
by Nikki Chipman
A true humanitarian is a person who can suffer from pain and injustice,
then filter his experience to help others. The actions taken by Glenn
Mabson, President of The Epileptic Foundation of Maui, prove that he is
one.
During the Vietnam War, American men had the choice of joining the
service or attending college. Mabson decided get his education. So while
the war raged on, Mabson graduated and was hired by CBS as a Production
Sound Engineer.
Fighting overseas was the major focus of the news, and before long,
Mabson was offered an opportunity to fly into the heat of the battle to
tape live footage for CBS. After he was promised $4,000 for two weeks
worth of work, he went.
Once the news team hit the ground, pure hell broke loose. Mabson was
walking in front of the camera man, when a mortar shell exploded behind
the them and tore the camera man’s body in half. Both of them were
blown into a hole, where Mabson could only wait and listen while chaos
continued on the outside. He remembers, “For four days I laid in a
hole with a dead man staring at me–until the Viet Kong came and pulled
me out.”
Mabson was taken to “The Duck Bill,” an area of land shaped like
its name, where prisoners were taken to be tortured or traded. During
the year and a half that he was kept there, Mabson underwent severe
physical trauma, which progressed from daily beatings to severe forms of
torment that his captors created for him. Since he was a civilian,
rather than a soldier, the Viet Kong thought Mabson was a spy and
punished him accordingly. They made him dig a hole that was as deep as
he was tall, and line it with bamboo shoots. He was forced to stand in
the hole while it was filled with dirt so that he was trapped up to his
neck, with only his head above ground. He was then left in that position
for days, on the side of a walkway. The Viet Kong soldiers would walk by
and kick him in the face, knocking out all of his top teeth. If it were
not for the soldier’s bare feet, the blows would have killed him.
The prisoners were usually fed a bowl of rice and a handful of
vegetables per day, but most of their nutrition came from the
cockroaches. Mabson says, “Those huge cockroaches that fly around here
in Hawai`i are the same as the ones we had to eat in Vietnam. Most
people don’t know that they are 100% protein. They taste horrible, but
they keep you alive.”
Mabson’s overseas experience came to an end after he was burned so
severely with a Hibachi that he went into a coma. With the grill, his
captors burned a deep ring around his leg and then repeated the
procedure every day until he had lost all consciousness. When he woke
up, he had been traded and was being treated at a hospital in
California. Initially, his leg was going to be amputated, but
antibiotics calmed the infection enough to save his limb. Now, almost
forty years later, Mabson can walk alright, but his scars are still
clear.
[clipped]
The Foundation has been operating out of the Mabson’s home for the
past three years, but because of their increasing bulk of work, they are
now in need of an office space. Anyone who would like to get involved,
set up a seminar or has an idea about office space is asked to please
contact The Epileptic Foundation of Maui at (808) 879-8999.
Glenn Mabson does not have time to wallow in the painful memories of his
past because he has too much love for what he is doing today. He says,
“I get such a feeling of joy whenever I give a presentation because I
know how important it is for people to know the facts about epilepsy.”
He is a true humanitarian with a mission to take the knowledge of his
yesterday and turn it into a treasure that anyone can benefit from
today.
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Wednesday,
September 06, 2006 11:52 AM
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The importance of accuracy
in the Epilepsy Message
By LEE IMADA, News
Editor
KIHEI – Wanted:
Volunteer actor to perform a grand mal seizure.
The muscle rigidity and
violent and rhythmic convulsions of a grand mal seizure associated
with epilepsy must be performed with realism. The auditions will
be judged by Dr. Jerome Engle Jr., director of the UCLA Seizure
Disorder Center, David Geffen School of Medicine.
The doctor is not going to put his name on this 20-minute
training video on seizures unless the performance passes muster,
said Glenn Mabson, chief executive officer of the nonprofit
Epileptic Foundation of Maui, which is creating and underwriting
the production.
Accuracy is essential, especially when training public safety
officials, teachers and the general public about aiding someone
undergoing a seizure. Misconceptions led to Mabson being
handcuffed and thrown into Maui Community Correctional Center for
four days after suffering a grand mal seizure near Star Market in
Kihei in 1996. ...
... Mabson and his mother, Ozella Scott, created the nonprofit
Epileptic Foundation of Maui in 1996 to educate the Maui community
about epilepsy and seizures. The foundation has trained more than
3,300 people, according to its Web site. Mabson has been honored
for his work with a Jefferson Award, a national award to recognize
unsung volunteerism, in 2004.
His seizures are the result of being
held and beaten for 18 months as a civilian prisoner of war during
the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971. He was working as a technician
for CBS News when he was captured.
For more than 12 years, he had one or two grand mal seizures a
day, but he has not had one in five years. He attributes that to
getting advice from a neurologist, eating a balanced diet, getting
sufficient rest of six to seven hours a night and the elimination
of stress from his life.
“Stress and anxiety cause seizures,” he said. ..... |
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