US Army Family Thanks Stranger

The Washington Post ^ | Cynthia Rivenbark

[mack98]

The Kindness of a Stranger

Thursday, October 21, 2004; Page A28

My husband, an Army captain who was in uniform, our young daughter and I went to a restaurant near Potomac Mills for dinner Oct. 15. When it came time to pay the check, our waiter informed us that another patron had picked up our tab. I was blown away.

/..snip/

The kind man -- in a yellow shirt, our waiter said -- left before we knew of his generosity or had a chance to thank him. I hope he reads this.

I hope everyone who ever offered a kind word or gesture to a military family knows that it is appreciated beyond measure. Everyone gets so wrapped up in political wrangling that sometimes people forget that families are part of the military, too. It means so much to a military wife like me to know that someone recognizes what is at stake for so many of us.

/...snip/

You're a large part of what makes America great.

CYNTHIA RIVENBARK Woodbridge, Virginia

[mack98]

Fantastic letter in today's Washington Post -- read the entire letter at http://snipurl.com/9z3k .

Whoooah!!

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[Prime Choice]

Very cool indeed. Kudos to the kind stranger! And kudos to the military family for the many sacrifices they make for us all!

[TankerKC]

I traveled in uniform last week and was thanked for my service numerous times. On the plane, they offered to let me sit in 1st class and gave me $40 in meal vouchers!

[isthisnickcool]

I think that kind of thing happens all the time. If I'm in an eatery and there are people in uniform there they ain't paying. The other day I was getting my hair cut and a Marine walked in and sat down to wait. I quietly paid for his haircut when I was paying for mine. Done some other stuff too.

I owe em'. We all do.

[Joe 6-pack]

Wow....the only time something like this ever happend to me was in Korea!!

[Fruitbat]

You never found a jar of Kimchi sitting on your doorstep?

:D

[jackbill]

You can bet your ass that he wasn't a DemocRAT.

[ADemocratNoMore]

My most sincere thanks to those of you in combat for your service to our country. My most sincere thanks to your brothers and sisters in arms, those in military service around the planet, those who have served in times past and those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. A special thanks also to our Police, Fire-Rescue and EMS personel here at home. You are True Hereos, all.

[Looking4Truth]

I remember back when I got married (now divorced, but that's OK, we're still friends), I got married in uniform. My new bride and I were driving to our hotel and I stopped at a convenience store and picked up a couple of bottles of wine.

I was still in uniform and kind of in shock and just blurted out "I just got married!".

The clerk said, "It's on me buddy."

This was in 1981.

[STFrancis]

2 weekends ago I went with the family to Sea World and we went to watch the Shamu show. While panning across the crowd individuals would wave while their face was up on the big screen.

Then a couple of young soldiers from the Air Force where shown... It was obvious they had just gotten out of boot camp (wearing their birth control glasses and all) and they both just kind of shyly waved into the camera.

Then an amazing thing happened... The crowd started applauding...

They showed three more young soldiers and the place went nuts.... People were standing and cheering.... It was awesome.... Getting teared up just thinking about it.

You could tell it really touched them.....

[mack98]

Agreed. Still, it's nice to see a major paper run this kind of letter.

And, thanks to the Army family for sharing their experience with us.

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