Experience as Midshipman and Officer
Influences Life's Work

Ed Butchart applies work ethic learned in Marine Corps to help folks in need through Friends of Disabled Adults

by Bill Foster, '80

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA -- Many of you had a chance read the profile on Ed in the November-December 2001 issue of Carolina Alumni Review. His work with Friends of Disabled Adults (FODA), an organization to help families with members with disabilities is indeed compelling, and inspiring. Ed is another example of an alumnus of the "Tarheel Navy" who has gone on to make a mark both in military service and in civilian life. What the Alumni Review article did not cover was how Ed's NROTC background and subsequent career in the Marine Corps impacted his current work. As the parent of a child with cerebral palsy I was especially curious, so I contacted him recently via e-mail to ask him about how he was influenced by his military service. Here's the text of his reply ("the rest of the story"):

Thanks for your comments. NOTHING in life is as satisfying as helping a family as they cope with a child with a disability. Not all kids are as fortunate as yours to have a family that can provide for them. All too many times the family has nothing.

I was a sophomore at NC State and in the Army ROTC when I was selected for the NROTC scholarship program (at UNC). I knew during my combined freshman-sophomore NROTC year that the pure military arts appealed to me more than being on the bridge of a destroyer. I applied for Marine option before my youngster cruise on the USS JOSEPH P. KENNEDY, JR. (DD 850) confirmed the wisdom of that choice.

I was a career infantry officer but also held MOS's in administration and public affairs. I was CO of the Mar Det on USS ALBANY (CG 10), was awarded the Distinguished Marksman Badge with high powered rifle, XO of an infantry battalion at GTMO (U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) as a Captain, was an adviser to ARVN (in Vietnam), and finally retired as a major. I felt like I had had a good career and had accomplished quite a bit.

(After retiring from the Marine Corps) I became a salesman of medical diagnostics products and was the top national salesman for two companies when I met a young man with CP and did a few simple chores for him and discovered a new truth about myself. Nothing I had done before gave me the personal satisfaction that changing a light bulb for Roger did. I began to help others in his complex and do more and more complicated tasks. A great church in the neighborhood, Mount Carmel Christian Church, heard about what we were doing and offered to help. I quit my lucrative sales career and started to "do FODA" full time on May 1, 1987. I attended Atlanta Christian College, graduated with a degree in Theology in May of 1989 and was ordained at Mount Carmel the next day.

Ed Butchart
UNC Class of 1958
Photo courtesy of Ed Butchart

The one thing that the Marine Corps did to prepare me for this is to give me a work ethic that few ever develop. Nothing has deterred me from keeping on with our basic mission which is to help folks. There have been many times when our finances looked bleak and some would have quit. We kept our focus on the Cross and on people who needed us and kept on going. The miracles kept coming (and still do) and we have stayed on task. My staff (nine full-time, 12 part-time and 40 volunteers) has learned that work ethic and we trudge on without being distracted by discouragements.

We have now given away over 9,000 wheelchairs in 36 states and 59 countries, over 30 million dollars worth of stuff of all kinds.

Visit our website and learn some more.

Semper Fidelis,
Ed

To find more about Ed's work, visit www.fodac.org on the Internet. Those of you who are members of the General Alumni Association can also access the Alumni Profile article via the web.

If you would like to get in touch with Ed regarding his work, he can be contacted at the following address:

Ed Butchart, Founder
Friends of Disabled Adults and Children, Too, Inc.
4900 Lewis Road
Stone Mountain, GA 30083
Phone: 770-491-9014
Fax: 770-491-9014
E-mail: ebutchart@fodac.org