Old Man

[dakota190]

The Old Man What a fantastic Story

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

h ead.. 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

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 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 '

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!

" America will never be destroyed from

outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be

because we destroyed ourselves."

Abraham Lincoln

[fudgical]

thank you so much dakota! brought tears to my eyes.

and i do love the quotes at the end!

[Hunterpoet]

Semper Fi

[glorywatch]

What a wonderful story. I had trouble reading it because of the tears. It touched my heart so. My father-in-law, now deceased, was a Marine who served in many of those same places. When he passed away, the Marine honor guard at his funeral, the Irish priest who did the whole mass in Gaelic and then of course taps at the graveside were nearly my undoing. I am so grateful to those in whatever uniform who have served this country, but the Marines have a special place in this old Irish heart.

[MorningGlory]

Awesome story, dakota.

[nebula]

Heartwarming - yes . . . but I need to know if it's a true story.

Sorry, but I'm tired of being duped by internet hoaxes.

[Openly Curious]

Great story, MARCH ON MARCH ON

OC