 EXIT of the DAY Hear this Here: Exit 9 I-95s to Glenbrook Road, in Stamford, Connecticut  "AmeriCares, an international charity, has its headquarters right here on Glenbrook Road, in Stamford, Connecticut. The origin story of one of the biggest non-profits in the World started right here in nearby darien Connecticut. It included a home mortgage and 2 people, a married couple, who were willing to leverage the equity their family home to save the lives of children they never met. In 1975, at the end of the Vietnam War, a United States jet carrying 243 Vietnamese Orphans for Operation Babylift crashed into the Vietnamese jungle.  A third of the children died; the surviving children, many critically injured, awaited rescue. Even though many of these kids were orphaned by parents who had died fighting for the United States, the US Government announced that it would not have rescue resources available for at least 10 days. Meanwhile North Vietnamese troops were sure to exterminate them. When a Connecticut Businessman, Robert Macauley, learned about the situation he personally decided to respond. Macauley and his wife, Leila, mortgaged their home here in Darien to charter a Boeing 747 and rescue the orphans. Within 48 hours, the orphans arrived safely in California. In 1981, after hearing about the rescue mission, Pope John Paul II asked Macauley to raise funds that would provide medicine for people suffering under martial law in his home country of Poland. In March, 1982, the first airlift delivering medicines to Poland was launched.. and AmeriCares was born! Macauley served as the CEO of Americares from 1979 until his death in 2010. Americares is now a non-profit disaster relief and global health organization providing immediate response to emergency medical needs and supporting long-term health care initiatives for people in the United States and around the world.   Since its founding in 1979, Americares has delivered more than $12 billion in humanitarian aid to 164 countries in need.  Businessman. Familyman. Humanitarian. Hero. It doesn't get better than Bob and Leila Macauley. And you just passed their home. #OperationBabyLift #StamfordConnecticut #DarienConnecticut #Vietnam #Americares #PopeJohnPaul #RobertMacauley #LilaMacauley #AmeriCares  Caution: Real Vampire Crossing Hear this Here!!! And don't fall asleep! EXIT of the DAY: I-95n Exit 5ba To: Exeter, near West Greenwich, Exeter, Rhode Island Caution: you are entering a vampire zone. So keep your windows closed -- especially at night. And do not stop for hitch-hikers. Even though the ancient hamlet of Exeter, Rhode Island — population six thousand — seems unassuming, here happened something that became famous the world over.  The fact is, Bram Stoker was inspired in 1897 to write his classic horror novel, "Dracula" by the incidents right here in tiny Exeter. The real life horror story became known as the “Mercy Brown Vampire Incident.”    Back in Victorian times, tuberculosis was called “consumption". Until there was a cure, TB was a much-feared disease which wiped out entire families. In 1883, a local mother, Mary Brown was the first to die. Sadly Mother Brown was followed by eldest daughter, Mary Olive Brown. Eight years later, the disease struck again. In 1891, daughter Mercy and son Edwin also contracted the disease. Mercy soon died.  Edwin struggled to survive. Neighbors of the Brown family believed that one of the dead was a vampire and had caused Edwin's illness.  The Dad, George Brown, was persuaded to go to the grave yard and to dig up the bodies. Over the years, both Mother and daughters’ cadavers had undergone significant decomposition. But the more recently deceased Mercy was still relatively unchanged. She had semi viscous blood in her heart. This was taken as a sign that the young woman was undead. Undead meant Mercy Brown was the dreaded Vampire.  To cure Edwin, the coagulated blood from his sister’s heart was taken and mixed into a liquid. It was then served to Edwin. He had to choke down this “blood serum of immortality”.  After much argument as to whether poor Mercy should be re-buried in the Christian Graveyard, the father prevailed and she was re-interred beside her Mom and sister.  As to Mercy’s unfortunate brother who had to drink her blood, sadly his story ends badly as well. Edwin Brown died two months later. Ghoulish right? No wonder Bram Stoker had a best seller! #tuberculosis #MercyBrown #Dracula #BramStoker #ExeterRhodeIsland #WestGreenwichRhodeIsland #TB #TBPandemic
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