Freedom fighters convene to support Methodist heart center

Houston - 10/26/2009 -

When the Iron Curtain finally fell in 1989, it was brought down by blows from all fronts: the sledgehammer shots from Poland’s Solidarity party, the covert aid to freedom fighters in Afghanistan and diplomacy from the United States.

Leading figures from all three of those fronts — former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, former U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson and former U.S. president George H.W. Bush — came together Saturday night in Houston to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the crumbling of Communism, and to raise funds for heart disease research at The Methodist Hospital.

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara appear as honorary co-hosts of the Leading Hearts gala in Houston Oct. 24. Mrs. Bush received heart surgery at The Methodist Hospital in 2008, and the former President and First Lady appeared to help raise funds for the hospital’s Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center.

Not only did each have a tie to the fall of the Soviet Union, but each man’s life was touched by the work and treatment of doctors at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center. Wilson received a heart transplant at Methodist in 2007, Walesa was treated for cardiomyopathy there and former First Lady Barbara Bush received a new heart valve at Methodist in 2008.

The evening brought together more than 1,000 people who watched as Wilson and Walesa were interviewed by CNN television host Larry King, who also had heart surgery 22 years ago. King did not interview the two men in person; recovering from the flu, King conducted the interview over satellite from a studio in Los Angeles.

Former Polish president Lech Walesa, left, and former U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, who were both heart patients at The Methodist Hospital, were interviewed at the hospital’s Leading Hearts gala Oct. 24 by television host Larry King.

Many of the questions King asked dealt with each man’s heart problems and their subsequent treatment at Methodist. “The scariest thing for me was the helicopter ride from Lufkin down to Houston,” Wilson said. “But when I saw the hospital and met the people at Methodist, I immediately had a sense of well–being. These are people who know what they are doing.”

Former U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, subject of the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” is interviewed onstage at the Leading Hearts gala in Houston, Oct. 24. Wilson, who received a heart transplant at The Methodist Hospital, was interviewed about his health and about politics by television host Larry King.

As congressman for the Texas 2nd district from 1973–1996, Wilson is best known for his work as a powerful member of the Defense Appropriations Committee. With the help of the Central Intelligence Agency he helped to funnel billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Afghanistan’s mujahideen fighters during the Soviet-Afghan war during the early 1980s. Many believe this effort led to the defeat of the Red Army and, ultimately, the fall of the Soviet Union. His exploits were chronicled in the 2003 best–selling book Charlie Wilson’s War, by George Crile, and the movie of the same name starring Tom Hanks.

As talk turned to politics and the ongoing war in Afghanistan, Wilson was equivocal on whether to increase the amount of American military force in that country. “On one hand, I would think the best thing to do is to stick it out a while longer … and hope the President gets good advice. But on the other hand, you can make a strong argument to send in more troops.

“No one has ever figured out a way to conquer Afghanistan. The country is a bad place to start a war … ask the Evil Empire about that,” Wilson added.

Former Polish president and Nobel laureate Lech Walesa greets a crowd of more than 1,000 people at the Leading Hearts gala in Houston, to benefit the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center.

Walesa weighed in on the topic with: “We need the rest of the world to be in solidarity with the United States (in its war on terrorism). America used to be the ultimate refuge for freedom — the world badly needs a place like that today. I call on the rest of the countries of the world to support the United States, because we need to restore the hope that this country represents.”

Walesa earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his work to form the Solidarity movement, the Soviet Union’s first independent trade union, and for setting into motion a series of events that first freed Poland from Soviet rule and eventually helped to fracture the Iron Curtain across Europe.

He won over the crowd with a sense of humor that wryly commented on current events. When King asked about American efforts to reform health care, Walesa said “I am very interested in health care reform in the United States, because that is revolutionary. And remember: none of the revolutions (over history) have been successful, except mine.”

Retired heart surgeon Dr. George Noon, far right, receives a standing ovation as he is presented the first Leading Hearts award by The Methodist Hospital.

President and Mrs. Bush appeared earlier in the evening in their roles as honorary co-chairs of the event. “It’s a great honor to be in the room with these great men,” Bush said, “and an even greater honor to be able to recognize the people at Methodist who helped my wife back to health.”

But he also poked fun at the former First Lady as she stood by his side. “With that pig valve … I keep wondering when she’s going to say ‘oink, oink.’”

This was the first “Leading Hearts” gala, organized to call attention to the work of doctors and researchers at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center. Retired heart surgeon Dr. George Noon, who was a partner to the late Dr. Michael DeBakey, received the inaugural Leading Hearts award that recognizes a physician or individual who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of care in cardiovascular disease. In Noon’s honor, the award will subsequently be called the Dr. George P. Noon Award.