The Old Man

tan's2002kjlimited · **Posted:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:22 pm

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 Military Service ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a in the Service also 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 good-bye'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. 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 former service members 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.

wheeee32 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:53 pm

That is very good. I especially enjoyed that story b/c I'm currently doing all the prep-work to join the Navy. Thank you for posting that.

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 4:04 pm

Very good story...

oddball · **Posted:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:13 pm

Assuming that story was from a email or somewhere on the internet, stories like that bother me when I think someone would treat a elderly person that way. Medal of Honor recipient or not.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:26 pm

Knew a guy that worked at the barracks at 29 palms, noone really paid much attention to him, he was just, what we all thought, a contracted custodian - which was true, because that he was

but his name was real familiar but noone could place it, someone finally ended up asking him his full name and what not one day then looked it up on the internet

He too, was a MOH recipient

we did our damnedest to never allow him to sweep another tract of sand or dirt from our barracks but all he did was chuckle and tell us that it didn't matter how clean we kept it, he didn't mop the floors to clean them, he mopped them to be near the Corps and Marines that he loved.

oddball · **Posted:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:10 pm

Now that's a great story.

Several years ago while attending my nephew's OCS graduation at Pensacola, we were all in a hall after they had taken the Officer's oath in the aviation chapel when I noticed this older man in a wheel chair. What first caught my attention was the red USMC windbreaker he was wearing. You could barely tell it was red with all the patches that covered it front and back, up one sleeve and down the other. Then without trying to make it too obvious I was staring at him, I noticed the MOH ribbon around his neck. When my nephew walked up to me I asked who that guy was? He told me he was a WWII USMC Aviator "Ace" who attends all the "Honor Class" OCS ceremonies and is introduced to all the grads who are to become Aviators.

I've met two Army MoH recipient's (WWII & VN) as well, and everytime you see or meet these people (especially when wearing their neck ribbon), the awe and respect can be emotionally overwhelming. At least for me.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:53 pm

I met a fella couple years ago that had came to a graduation at PI, talked to the fella for about 2 hours and we had beers at the brig and brew

the guy was one of those multi-theatre WW2 Marines, notibly, jumping into France from a blimp - not only was he the first Marine to jump from a blimp into hostile territory, i believe he was one of 10 but that particular fact may be incorrect due to my poor memory

tomsjeep · **Posted:** Mon Jul 27, 2009 6:13 am

Great story.
The phrase "America is not at war. The military is at war. America is at the mall." was written on a white board in theater several years ago and left posted there. I think it was the CP outside of Fallujah. I remember because one of our techs (generator maintenance) took a pic and included it in his after action report.

The Old Man

Who is online