The Old Man...
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 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 man 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 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 Corps20Reserves.
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. 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. Remember, OLD men like him gave you FREEDOM for America . Thanks to those who served....& those who supported them. America is not at war. The U.S. Military is at war. America is at the Mall. If you don't stand behind our
troops, PLEASE feel free to stand in front of them!
Remember, Freedom isn't "Free" -- thousands
have paid the price so you can enjoy what you have today.
LET'S DO THIS -- JUST 19 WORDS
GOD OUR FATHER,
WALK THROUGH MY HOUSE
AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES AND
ILLNESSES;
AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEAL MY FAMILY
IN JESUS ' NAME. AMEN
This prayer is so powerful.
Pass this prayer to 12 people including
me
--
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