I worked with a man, Bill. Bill was the number 1 salesman in the company. You could totally botch his job and he’d just say ”they’ll buy it”. He always said he did all of his selling on the golf course.
One day the dudes in my area were all talking about Saving Private Ryan which had just come out. And Bill was near going over a proof. I’m not sure what was said, but during the conversation Bill chimes in “ I was a screaming Eagle.” We all stopped and looked at him. I remember saying “No shit?” And Bill says “ I was a bad-ass motherfu**er”. We all just stood there. In shock. He packed up his work and walked away. Never said anything about it ever again. And that’s all I know about his service
Many years ago I worked campus security. One of the guys I worked with was fat, old, and slow. Some of the younger guys teased him about that. And the teasing was constant.
Well, one day this old guy brought a briefcase into the campus police station. He motioned us all to gather around. Then without saying a thing he opened the briefcase. In it were all sorts of medals and commendations. The fat, old, and slow guy was an Army Ranger who landed on D-Day.
No one teased him after that.
A big grin and a bump for Bill!
As a kid in my early teens, my Dad’s co-worker, golfing buddy and across the street neighbor Joe was someone I liked and admired as a real man...
Years later, my Dad told me Joe was a Ranger who had scaled the cliffs at Pont-du-Hoc on D-Day...Joe had been decorated for valor for something he did that day, although I never found out what it was...
Joe never talked about it...