Story Mutation: Denzel Washington’s Support of the Troops

A few weeks ago, an email story was circulating about how actor Denzel Washington, while visiting wounded soldiers in an Army hospital in December 2004, had written a check on the spot to pay for a new facility where wounded soldiers’ families can stay while visiting.   I certainly believed the email when I saw it, because Washington is known for his quiet generosity in supporting the Boys’ Clubs / Girls’ Clubs and other charitable causes. 

But this particular story proved to have mutated in the retelling, in the space of just a few short weeks.  In fact, the person who originally sent the email apparently wasn’t even there.  According to a story in today’s Houston Chronicle:

"There is no doubt that [Washington] and his wife are going to support us, but he did
not whip out his checkbook and write us a check," said Jim Weiskopf, of the
Fisher House Foundation in Rockville, Md.  * * * 

A widely circulated e-mail, popular among troops in Iraq, praises Washington
for underwriting the construction of a third housing facility near Brooke Army
Medical Center. But officials say plans for that unit were well under way when
he visited in December.

Now that Washington’s generosity has reached urban-legend proportions, Fisher
House has received many inquiries and has tracked down the e-mail that claims he
spontaneously agreed to pay in full for the housing unit.

"The person who sent it wasn’t even there that day," Weiskopf said.

A popular urban-legends site, snopes.com, has more details.