Welcome to Loving the Imperfect Podcast, a show for seekers of deeper contemplation. I'm Brianne Turczynski. For 10 years I've been studying offerings from holy teachers and holy texts. I'm a journalist who has listened to the stories of many people throughout the years, and I continue to be captivated by the stories of how God nudges and directs us, either by closing doors or opening them.
So, join me as we listen to these extraordinary stories and become witnesses to the truth of love .
Hello and welcome to Loving the Imperfect. Today we’ll hear from 90-year-old Dr. Daniel White, a local physician in this area, well known and well-liked by everyone
He's going to tell us how he was sent over to Vietnam during the Vietnam War and spent some time over there with the civilians and how he touched the lives of these people.
Dr. White: I had an office in the David Whitney building in Detroit. The David Whitney Building is a big building, down by Come America Park. Now it's a hotel was in there with a very fine doctor who was going to retire, and he wanted me to take over. Vietnam was getting more active. And so, I tried to get in the Air Force Reserve. I went back for the first time for a physical at Selfridge and I was too fat. So, I went home, and I lost my weight. I went back and I was colorblind. Then I thought, well, I'm safe. The next day in the mail I get a letter saying, you've been drafted and you're going to Southeast Asia. I called my mother who lived in Ann Arbor, and I said, “I'm going to Southeast Asia, that's halfway around the world”.
And she said, “well, if you go any further, you're on your way home”. I wound up going to Vietnam and I was in a MILPHAP team, military provincial hospital program. I took care of Vietnamese civilians. And of course I didn't speak any Vietnamese, but I had an interpreter who was just a little kid.
He wanted me to bring him back as my son. I wasn't married and that just seemed far too complicated. But he did get to the United States and he wound up living in Texas, got married, had three daughters…
Brianne: And that was your interpreter?
Dr. White: My interpreter. And he calls me a lot. We have a very nice relationship.
Brianne: Wow. And so, are you still in touch with them after all these years?
Dr. White: Yeah. Yeah.
I was in Vietnam for a year that I was in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base. They had a big hospital there and I met some people, young Vietnamese boys there, and we got along very well, and they wanted to come here for my house for Christmas. They did come and we had a good time, and I took a picture of myself with each one of these kids, and when I went back to Vietnam as a volunteer, I went and visited each one of the families.
One of the boys was the nephew of the Hoàng đế years ago when Vietnam had an emperor, and he was the nephew of the emperor. So, I went to see his family and I think we ate at four o'clock because it was a six o'clock curfew in Saigon.
And they had tablecloths in a war zone, and they had clear asparagus soup and that was so good. So good.
When Vietnam fell, he was killed, and he was married and had a child and his wife was pregnant. Vietnam was falling, so they escaped to the United States. They had my name, and I got a call if I would take them on and foster them. And I said, “I just got married”. My wife was a widow of three little boys. And I said, “I have three new sons”.
I think, [I have] a little bit more than I can deal with, but I did get them a place to stay. I had a lot of very positive—most people had a very negative experience—I had a very positive experience. In fact, for my 70th birthday, which was almost 20 years ago, whew—
Brianne: Geez.
Dr. White: Geez is right! My wife took me back to Vietnam for a tour. When I was in Vietnam, there was this man who was working there, he was really fond of the United Nations, and he would write me letters and anyway, his daughter lived in Rochester. And so that's how I got to Rochester back in 68.
Brianne: So, you've been living in Rochester since 1968?
Dr. White: Yes. Yes. And I've been living in this house since 1974. But then I got married. I met my wife at St. Phillips. She fell down the steps to the undercroft and I was there.
Brianne: Oh, really? So that's how you met?
Dr. White: Yeah. Yeah. She passed away a couple of years ago, so I've got stepsons now, and then we have a daughter. My wife and I have a daughter. I had heart surgery in 2021. I had lots of complications. That's when I got the get well or else card from Medicare and now, I'm here. Peace and quiet.
Brianne: So, you left St. Philip's for a while and then you came back?
Dr. White: Yes, I did. I didn't go to church for a long time and then my wife passed away and I felt this need to go back to church and I thought to myself, why do I have this need to go?
I couldn't understand why. I felt I had to go back, and then I realized it was to forgive. To forgive myself from things I might have said or done, and to forgive other people. You know, this idea of forgiveness, it can be very difficult. I mean, it sounds good, oh, I forgive you, but you can't forget. I've had a wonderful life and I'm very grateful.
It's important to keep your mind going, I used to tell my patients, you shouldn't retire. You have to have a reason to get up in the morning besides going to the bathroom. If that's all you have, well, I'm done for the day now.
Brianne: Yeah, that's true.
Dr. White: Most of my friends have gone to some place where there's no zip code. You know where that is?
Brianne: Yes. Is that hard? When it becomes like, ‘cause how old? You're like 90, right? You're 90 years old. So, is that hard when all of your friends have gone before you?
Dr. White: Well, if you wanna have a chitchat, it is. But I'm not despondent. I was depressed after I had my heart surgery and had all those complications and was in the hospital for so many months. I'm not a depressed type of person. I might have been annoyed, or unhappy that I’m going through it. But when I came home from the hospital the last time I couldn't walk, I had around the clock daycare and now I'm pretty good.
Last Saturday, my grandson [and I] we went to the Fisher to see a show we had, and we do okay. You know, [there are] a lot of things I can't do. But I think my mind's pretty good. I still go to physical therapy, but I don't think I'll ever be walking, as well as I would like. But when I came home, I didn't walk at all.
Brianne: So, going back to the Vietnam War, really quick, you said that you tried to go and volunteer yourself a couple times?
Dr. White: Well, I tried to get into the Air Force Reserve, so I wouldn't go, and I was too fat the first time. The second time I was color blind. Then the next day I got drafted.
Brianne: Were you scared at all or were you excited?
Dr. White: You know, I don't know. I put on a lot of weight before I went, so I must have been kind of scared, but I didn't feel scared. I wasn't scared, you know, they gave me an M 16 rifle and a pistol, but I never put any bullet in it. 'cause then I didn't have to clean it. I mean, I was there to take care of people. I wasn't there to shoot people.
Brianne: Was there ever a moment over there that you did feel scared that something might have happened?
Dr. White: You know, we were under attack a couple times, but, you know, I was just kind of dumb 'cause I didn't know what I was doing. I'm a doctor, not a shooter. And I really didn't get any training in how to shoot a gun. My experiences were [positive], as I say.
I have a painting in my office that the nephew of the emperor painted for me. It's what a Vietnamese doctor uses to, take care of people. He got killed when Vietnam fell, but his wife came over here, she had a baby and she was pregnant, so he's got at least two kids. I want that painting to go to them. But I don't know how to find them I'm trying to. The daughter of my interpreter who's an attorney, I'll ask her to see if she can help me. I don't think it's worth it much, but if their father did it and gave it to me, I don't want it to go into a garage sale.
Brianne: So, you said that you don't feel like there were any moments where God was nudging you, but…
Dr. White: I think He was always there. When I was going through medical school and you're going through the OB part of that, you just have to know that there's somebody around who's making this baby, 'cause it's such a miraculous thing.
I think the more education you get, I don't care what it is, it opens doors, I never went to work a day in my life. You gotta do something you love. You have to be grateful. It’s very important to be grateful and very important to be kind. And both those things I think are lacking in our world today.
I just have to be kind to people. People are incredibly nice to me. They really are. When I walk somewhere on my walker, little old ladies open doors for me. That's kind of spooky. They're very kind to me. How grateful I am my kids are very compassionate with me; I've got a really nice grandson.
Brianne: So, your message, if you were to tell the listeners, the parishioners, everybody, what would be your advice for people?
Dr. White: Don't be so judgmental and be kind and empathy is important, and you know, if you do that, you may not change the world, but you can change a small part of it.
It's just very important that we try to understand the other person.
Outro: Thank you for joining me on Loving the Imperfect. Next time, we will hear an interview with the priest of St. Phillips in Rochester, Michigan. Father Eric Williams. We've heard multiple people talk about how wonderful Father Eric is in a lot of these interviews. So, we'll hear from him next time. I hope that you'll join me then. Thank you for joining me.
Have a good day. Bye bye.
