Debra Gruszecki •
The Desert Sun •
November 25, 2010
America is thankful for its heroes.
And tonight when CNN televises its “Top 10 Heroes,” Debby Alexander, proprietor of Peabody's Café & Bar, will quietly celebrate the good works of Aki Ra and the role the Palm Springs restaurant played to help his cause.
Ra, a former child soldier for the Khmer Rouge, has dedicated his life to detonating and dismantling the landmines he once placed in Cambodia.
For Alexander's part, Peabody's held three separate fundraising events — at which Cambodian art and donated items from Palm Springs businesses and small hotels were sold — with longtime customer Bill Morse to raise $22,000 for the landmine relief fund.
When CNN taped its all-star annual tribute in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Alexander was one of 13 people to get an invitation from Ra and Morse to attend the red carpet event featuring Jessica Alba, Renee Zellweger, Marisa Tormei, Aaron Eckhart, Demi Moore and Halle Berry as presenters.
“It was a real thrill,'' she said.
“When Renee Zellweger came out and introduced Aki, he spoke before this big crowd with limited English,'' Alexander said.
“He spoke about his wife dying last year, and how much she had helped him. It got emotional.”
Alexander was able to see Morse for a few minutes as well.
He and his wife, Jill, moved to Siem Reap, Cambodia, last year to help Ra get international certification and a license from the Cambodian government to legally remove landmines that once were deactivated with a stick.
Morse also helped Ra get a $100,000 grant to buy a truck and assemble a rapid response team that can respond to villagers who find mines.
Ra, who sometimes placed up to 1,000 landmines a day in the 1980s, has not only cleared more than 50,000 of the estimated 6 million explosives the war left behind. Ra has also cared for dozens of children who have been maimed by mines.
“I got to see Bill for a minute before he and Aki Ra flew back to Cambodia,'' Alexander said.
“I got to meet other people who have helped the landmine relief fund. While at the taping, I also got to meet Richard Fatoussi, who is making a film about Ra.”
Alexander said that film, “The Perfect Soldier,'' has just been presented to judges of the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
The CNN show will be televised at 5 p.m. today.
Peabody's Cafe, 134 S. Palm Canyon Drive, will be closed tonight for the holiday and this simple reason: Alexander has a date with the TV.
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