Leaving a bit behind

Jim and Linda Parker might never leave the country, but their blood could save the life of a Marine in Afghanistan.

The Parkers, natives of McPherson, Kan., visited Camp Lejeune’s Naval Hospital Wednesday, their 11th stop on a tour of all donation centers in the Armed Services Blood Program. And it’s not the first time they crossed the nation to give a pint: in 2004, they began a circuit of 34 Red Cross blood centers to raise awareness about the importance of donations.

This trip began in January, when they received a call from ASBP headquarters, asking them to consider a publicity tour for the military centers. On June 15, the couple’s journey began with a blood donation at the Pentagon, a unique celebration for Jim Parker’s 71st birthday.

“The military has been outstanding from day one,” Jim Parker said. “It’s just been very good support.”

On Dec. 28, the couple visited Fort Bragg to donate platelets. But they were ready at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning to go under the needle again and give whole blood. Cal Glazier, the blood donor recruiter for the Naval Hospital, took them to the hospital’s mobile collection center, two 50-foot buses that can accommodate up to 20 Marines at a time for paperwork and donation.

Eighty percent of the blood units the center collects — it travels to Cherry Point and the Wilmington area, as well as Lejeune — is sent overseas for use with deployed troops.

Lt. Jonathan Hoiles, the division officer for the blood bank, said that while the center always needed donors, the need was exacerbated during the holidays, when donations fall off due to travel and vacation time.

Glazier said that quotas had recently risen for AB positive and negative blood types, as plasma from those types is being used to counter shock symptoms for those in combat theater.

The Parkers both have O positive, the most common blood type.

Even though they’ve traveled widely, Linda said it was their first time to Camp Lejeune and to a Marine base.

“Camp Lejeune is something you heard about all your life,” she said. “Marines are the elite of toughness.”

And assisting the military has special significance for them, as their son, Charlie Maib, is an Army sergeant stationed at Yakota Air Force Base in Japan.

“Donating for the military has been our way of serving our country,” Linda said.

The hospital’s acting commanding officer, Capt. Pius Aiyewalo, visited the center as the couple finished their donation to thank them and give them a warmly worded citation for their service.

“We’re truly very appreciative of the Parkers coming in here,” Aiyewalo said in an interview. “These are two truly great Americans.”

After a successful donation, the Parkers planned to return to Kansas, where they both hold teaching jobs. In 56 days, the next time they are eligible to donate whole blood, they will travel to Kileen, Texas’s Fort Hood Army Post, their next destination.

But two pints of their blood stayed behind in the hospital bank.

“Jim likes to say that we leave a little Parker everywhere we go,” Linda said.

To follow the Parker’s journey and for more information, visit their Web site.

Contact Hope Hodge at 910-219-8453 or hhodge@freedomenc.com.