Honor

[Bowtech_archer07]

This one brought a tear to my eye.

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 yell 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 pe eled

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 me

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 retired 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 a nd 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 me 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

alright, 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.

[hammerforged]

Semper Fi!

[buckee]

[Adjam5]

A moving story...

No such thing as a Ex marine.

[OJR]

Great story!

[rookieee]

v-nam vet

may the deer gods reward you with a buck of a life time

[Randy]

Great story! Thanks for sharing it!

[stevebeilgard]

great story. i hope it's true.

[Bowtech_archer07]

great story. i hope it's true.

As do I Steve. I received it in an email.

[mule659]

Semper Fi! I served fours years and three tours in Iraq as a Marine in a scout platoon...there is always a special bond you will have with other Marines no matter where you meet. I would not trade that for anything.

[Bowtech_archer07]

That's awesome Mule, my cousin served 8 yrs as a Marine, 2 tours in Iraq with tours in Kuwait amongst other places in the Middle East.

[HOYTnMUZZYboy]

Thanks for shareing!! And thank you to everyone who serves our country!!!!

[ildrhntr]

Semper Fi

[youngbuck30230]

great story

[pendog]

God bless all of those who serve our sometimes ungratefull population, we owe all of them a huge debt.

[JDAWG]

Great story. Thanks for sharing it with us. I think that more people need to have respect for others, as well as, caring about others well being. This is why I'm a member of this site, the people.

[wtnhunt]

Great story.