Back in 1965 I was on emergency medical leave because I had contacted meningitis during basic training. I was a pretty sick puppy and was sitting in the waiting room at the St. Louis airport waiting to fly military standby home.
I guess I was really looking sorry because an Army Captain came over and asked me if I was OK. I told him what was going on. He returned in about 10 min with a full price ticket so I did not have to wait standby. He was an aide for a General who was the one who had spotted me sitting there and it was the General that bought me the ticket.
I never did get the General’s name. I just saw him leave the airport with his aide and he smiled at me and gave me a brief nod of his head.
As an intelligence analyst I worked with generals and admirals a lot and found them to be much nicer than their lower-ranking counterparts.
I'll never forget way back when I was much younger, and went to visit my dad in France. My dad said "no time to change out of your uniform... let's quick go into town where they're giving an honor to Alan Shepard for his recent moon walk". The town square was packed, and I couldn't even find the admiral. Then, some guy tapped me on the shoulder and said "please stay put, the admiral would like to come over and have a chat with you".
Admiral Shepard did indeed come over and spend a few minutes chatting with me... definitely made my day.
Nice story and general
Probably would be canned today by Obama as he hates that kind of leadership