Posted on 05/13/2008 1:28:41 PM PDT by Rogle
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 and then turn back to the old man and I heard him yel l 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 and 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 told the old gentleman that I would be right back. I drove to the station and went inside and saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them and related the problem the old man had with his car and 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 m e 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 had mentioned that he served with the first Marine Division at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. He had hit all the big ones and retire d 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 and 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 m e and 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......... '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.
America is not at war. The U.S. Military is at war. America is at the Mall.
I haven’t heard this story, but thank you for sharing it, and thank you for your service sir....
It brought tears to my eyes, but good tears!
Never gets old. First received this from a hunting buddy in March who thought my friends at II MEF and MARSOC might enjoy it.
Semper Fi!!
No need for that.Thank you for posting a nice story and thank you for helping the gentleman and his wife.Another one to your good column.
I wish I had been the individual that had helped out but it wasn’t me and the e-mail that I got never mentioned who had done the good deed.
Got it and my thanks to you for posting.
There seems to be a problem with my monitor here too...
I wonder if you wouldn’t mind posting the name of the war hero, so we could find the text of his citation? I find nothing more inspirational than the tales of Medal of Honor recipients.
Looking at the list from World War II, there weren’t a lot awarded to Marines that weren’t posthumous. I remain in awe of the courage and sacrifice exhibited by our military.
Nice story but without attribution almost certainly false.
So sad to be you. Just enjoy and let the post speak to you
It’s the Medal of Honor, not the Congressional MOH. If the card said that, it was a fake.
Well Colonel...you know how some war stories get a little bit changed in the re-telling. Its just a fact of nature.
The anecdote may be legit but since it is unsourced there is no way of knowing. That is why emails are supposed to be posted in chat.
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