OK guys, please quit. I'm very appreciative of the comments. You have to know that this is a labor of love, and what a privilege it is at this point in my life to work at an endeavor that means something to others.

I am pleased that OCF is having so much positive impact. But like I always say, I am just one part of many that make it all work. This year we have had an extraordinary group of returning and new volunteers put on walks for us around the country. Those are funding new HPV research this year, and much more, like the production costs to get the Douglas PSA actually on the air.

Most of all, at this stage of my life, I am grateful for the camaraderie that I am able to share with fellow travelers on the cancer path, with researchers, and with the doctors that work in the trenches. You all enrich my life in ways that you likely do not fathom. I thought after Vietnam, that I would never again feel that intensity of brotherhood, that no relationship would have the depth, or often unspoken bond shared with a fire tested brother in arms. But I was wrong. My OCF relationships, many borne of the same association with a real battle for survival no less fearsome than with a human adversary, share many of the same qualities and feelings. Their emotional impact equally significant and protracted.

OCF has its own legs now, and the security of knowing that it will continue past me is a true joy. The many many supporters that donate, each to their on level of ability, are continuing to grow. The increasingly more knowledgeable patient advocates here on the forums, are answering and supporting the increased flow of participants as OCF becomes more visible nationally. The foundation is firmly on the map, and with invitations to be part of the decision making at the NCI, to have an impact and be thought of by the CDC as an organization that they have to get input from when policy is on the table that relates to our disease; these are all indicators that your voices are being heard, and that it is an organization of relevance. One day, not in my lifetime unfortunately, OCF will hopefully close its doors, not for lack of donors, nor volunteers, nor advocates that are willing to tilt at the windmills, but because we have a firm handle on oral cancer, and the incidence becomes minimal.

All of you are that future.