Former Surgeon General, Doctor C. Everett Koop Dies [VIDEO]

He was a man with a message and made sure he got the word out about AIDS prevention and the dangers of smoking. Former Surgeon General, Doctor C. Everett Koop has died.

FOX News Radio’s Jeff Monosso looks back on his life:

Doctor C. Everett Koop, with his trademark beard was Surgeon General during the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations; who crusaded against smoking and who endorsed condoms and sex education to stop the spread of the then emerging disease known as AIDS.

Koop: “And people with AIDS need a helping hand; reading, running errands. The little every day things that we take for granted become almost impossible to do.”

The former pediatric surgeon from Philadelphia, who raised the profile of the Surgeon General post. An assistant confirms that Koop died in Hanover, New Hampshire at 96.

Jeff Monosso, FOX News Radio.

Watch a VIDEO Public Service Announcement about AIDS featuring Doctor Koop:

Editor’s Note: Doctor Koop’s anti-smoking campaigns had the goal of a smoke-free America by the year 2000.