All the stores have ‘golf cart parking only’ where one would expect handicap parking. I went there because there is a place called Hometown Buffet. My type of restaurant…and I was hungry. As I walked in to the Hometown Buffet, I saw the Golf cart parking spots and grumbled, “Oh great. Lots of old folks. It should only take a week to get through the chow line.”
I paid my money and picked a table. I went to get some food and as I returned to my table I passed a very old gentleman…had to be over 90…who was picking away at his little bowl of what looked like Blueberry cobbler. What caught my eye was his cap on the table. It had the US Army Airborne insignia on it.
I went to my table, put my plate down and went back to his table. I said, “Excuse me sir, I’m sorry to interrupt your meal but I couldn’t help noticing your Airborne cap.” He said, “Yep. 82nd. Europe. ‘41 through ‘45.”
I said, “I’d like to shake your hand and say thank you. You gents are a vanishing breed and the greatest generation our country has ever known.” He asked me where I served. I told him I never had the honor but my late father was a Sergeant in Korea and he would have cuffed me upside the head if I didn’t stop and shake his hand. He said thanks and I went back to my table.
Actually, the conversation went a little longer than that as I had to repeat myself a few times since he was wearing hearing aids.
I finished my first plate and after I’d procured my 2nd, I stopped a server and asked if I could speak to the manager.
I was taken to an older gentleman…probably in his early sixties. I introduced myself and asked his name. His name was Mohammed. I explained that I had just spoken with an older gentleman who said he had served with the 82nd Airborne. Mohammed said, without a hint of an accent, “Ah yes. That’s Joe. he comes here quite regularly. Two or three times a week.” I told Mohammed that since Joe had likely already paid for tonight’s fare, I would like to ‘comp’ his next trip here and did they have Gift Cards? He said they did and that Joe gets a special personal discount from him…so his meals only cost roughly half of the regular price.
He led me to the front and he set me up with a $20 Gift Card in a nice Gift folio as we chatted about veterans and he said his father served in WW2. I told him that this is something that my late father…a Korean veteran…would do without thinking twice. So I wanted to make a gesture to Joe and honor both him and my father in one stroke. He said that was a very nice thing to do an not enough people today would stop to do that. We both agreed that the younger generations have not been taught our history properly much less the manners to even conceive of such a gesture.
I went back to Joe’s table and again apologized for the interruption and told him I’d like to sit for a moment if he didn’t mind. I presented him with the gift card and explained my reason for doing it. He thanked me and then proceeded to regale me with a number of stories from his time in Europe. He is 98 years old and his memory was sharp as a tack.
He had been a paratrooper in the European theater and had seen action in Arnhem, Malmedy and the The Ardennes.
He also had served as an advisor at the Pentagon in later years. I got the sense that he hadn’t spoken about these subjects for some time and was grateful for someone to listen. In the end, I thanked him again and said I would leave him to finish his meal and I needed to get back to mine. I told him about the WW2 air museum over at the John Wayne Int’l airport. He had never seen it but said he’d make the trip for sure.
All in all a very cool dinner experience. And the food was really good too.
Very nice story. My Dad also has an Airborne / WWII hat and quite a few people have stopped to talk to him and buy his meals. One of his favorite stories was when a currently serving soldier in Special Operations stopped and thanked him and gave him his challenge coin. I think he carries it around with him even today.
My Dad has talked a lot about his experience in Arnhem, Malmedy, the Ardennes, etc. He was 21 when he jumped at Normandy. I think when I was 21 it would have taken the whole crew to push me out of the airplane.