CREDIT DENZEL FOR AIDING WOUNDED TROOPS.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

File this one under class acts. Last Dec. 17, Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington and his family visited Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, where they met wounded soldiers returning from Iraq.

He also toured a few buildings called Fisher Houses - hotels where the families of wounded soldiers can stay for $10 a night while a loved one is recovering.

The hotel rooms were all full because of all the wounded soldiers, like Spc. Connie Spinks, 22, who was being treated for burns and broken bones suffered two months earlier in Mosul, where a suicide bomber attacked her convoy. Two soldiers were killed and five others wounded in the attack.

The story about Washington's visit that circulated on the Internet said he asked how much it cost to build a Fisher House - about $1 million - then took out his checkbook and wrote a check for the full amount on the spot.

That's not what happened.

Washington did make a ``substantial donation'' several months later, Nelia Schrum, chief public affairs officer at Brooke, said Thursday, returning from a groundbreaking ceremony for a $30 million rehabilitation center that will include two 21-bedroom Fisher Houses.

``His generosity is definitely appreciated by all the soldiers and staff here,'' she said.

Many people have e-mailed me saying that Washington never has received the credit he should in the media for his visit to those young soldiers. They're right.

Neither Brooke officials nor Washington's representatives would reveal how much he gave, but so what? How much do you think having a major motion picture star pin a Purple Heart on you is worth to a wounded soldier?

Priceless. Spinks' face lit up like a Christmas tree when Washington gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

``She called her mom, Annette, up on stage for a hug and kiss, too,'' said Schrum, who wrote a story about the visit for the base newspaper.

Washington wasn't available for comment Thursday, but what he told the wounded soldiers that day tells you everything you need to know about this guy.

``When you think you are coming to give something, as is often the case, you wind up getting so much more,'' Washington said. ``From the bottom of my heart, my family and I want to thank you for letting us recognize such brave young men and women.

``You read a lot about celebrities being anti-war and anti-this,'' he said. ``But this particular celebrity supports you 100 percent.''

Class act.

From weekend lemonade stands and car washes to clothing drives and Red Cross fundraisers, there are hundreds of people and groups in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys and Ventura County to thank for opening their hearts and wallets to the victims of Katrina.

They're not looking for a pat on the back because they didn't do it for the recognition. They did it because people were hurting, and it was the right thing to do.

But, as Flo Hagenbaugh of Reseda Moose Lodge 1738 reminds me, somebody should still thank them publicly.

``Our members were out on the street with posters and collection containers to collect money for the American Red Cross to help the victims of Katrina,'' she writes.

``We are proud to say in one day we collected $3,537.85. So many good people stopped - young and old - and gave from their hearts. I hope you can help us say thank you to all those wonderful people.''

And thank you to the senior class over at Louisville High in Woodland Hills for sending more than 150 backpacks filled with school supplies, sweat shirts and toiletries to 150 new students at Redemptress High School in Baton Rouge, who were displaced from their schools in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.

Jocelyn Landgraf, a 2001 graduate of Louisville, is doing her student teaching at Redemptress after graduating from Notre Dame University earlier this year, and alerted the girls back home to their needs there.

``Each backpack also had a personal letter from one of our girls, and hopefully we'll become pen pals and help any way we can,'' said Louisville principal Kathleen Vercillo.

And thanks to one of the smallest Cub Scout packs in the Valley - Joel DiBiase, James Palermo, Evan Eiermann and Michael Bender - Webelos Scouts out of Serrania Avenue Elementary School - for standing in front of Ralphs on Ventura Boulevard last Saturday to collect $147.27 for Katrina victims.

These are just a few, but there are so many more who deserve our thanks. Class acts, all of you.

And finally, the fifth annual Benefit for Our Bravest will be from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday outside the Valley Inn Restaurant, 4557 Sherman Oaks Ave., Sherman Oaks.

It's a great family event honoring the Los Angeles Fire Department. There will be entertainment, auctions, firetruck rides, games, food booths and a special book signing by legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.

Dennis McCarthy, [phone]

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

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Spc. Connie Spinks - injured in a suicide bombing - is all smiles as actor Denzel Washington presents her with the Purple Heart in December.