This was sent to me in an e-mail and although it has been around before I thought it appropriate for today to remember all who served our country. Please remember to thank a soldier or a veteran for their service today!
As I came out of the supermarket
that sunny day, pushing my cart
of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car
up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open. The old man
was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car, and
continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty five feet away.
I saw a young man in his early
twenties with a grocery bag in
his arm walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming
too, and took a few steps towards him.
I saw the old gentleman point to his
open hood and say something.
The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new
Cadillac Escalade. He then turned back to the old man. I heard him yell
at the old gentleman saying:'You shouldn't even be allowed to drive a
car at your age.' And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car
and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.
I saw the old gentleman pull out his
handkerchief, and mop his brow
as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine. He then went to his wife and spoke with
her; he appeared to tell her it would be
okay. I had seen enough, and I approached the old man. He saw me coming
and stood straight, and as I got near him I said, 'Looks like you're having
a problem.'
He smiled sheepishly, and quietly
nodded his head. I looked under
the hood myself, and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond
me. Looking around, I saw a gas station up the road, and I told the old
man that I would be right back. I drove to the station and went
inside. I saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of
them, and related the problem the old man had with his car. I offered to
pay them if they could follow me back down and help him. The old man had
pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be
comforting his wife. When he saw us he straightened up and thanked me
for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine),
I spoke with the old gentleman.
When I shook hands with him earlier,
he had noticed my Marine Corps
ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine
too. I nodded and asked the usual question, 'What outfit did you serve
with?'
He said that he served with the
first Marine Division at Guadalcanal ,
Pelieliu, and Okinawa . He had
hit three of the worst ones, and retired from the Corps after the war
was over. As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the
mechanics lower the hood. They came over to us as the old man reached
for his wallet, but was stopped by me. I told him I would just put the
bill on my AAA card.
He still reached for the wallet and
handed me a card that I assumed
had his name and address on it, and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook
hands all around again, and I said my goodbye's to his wife.
I then told the two mechanics that I
would follow them back up to the
station. Once at the station, I told them that they had interrupted their
own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to
pay for the help, but they refused to charge me. One
of them pulled out a card from his pocket, looking exactly like the card
the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then that they were
Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all around and as I was
leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had
given to me. I said I would and drove off.
For some reason I had gone about two
blocks, when I pulled over and
took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The
name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his
name was written: 'Congressional Medal of Honor Society.'
I sat there motionless, looking at the card and reading it over and over.
I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that
on this day, four Marines had all come together because one of us needed
help. He was an old man all right, but it felt good to have stood next
to greatness and courage, and an honor to have been in his presence.
Remember, on this traditional Memorial Day, OLD men like him gave you, and all of us, FREEDOM for
America ..
No comments:
Post a Comment