My wife and I were eating in a dinner this morning. We were remembering fondly the day before with family.
In comes six young men. I eyed them warily. Then I noticed the hair cuts.
The clean clothing. The quiet respectful manner in which they treated the waitress. Finally I noticed a shirt: U.S. Marines
For some reason they really got to me. So young and proud. So willing to throw their young lives into battle to keep me and my family safe.
So I walked over and said Hi. I asked them if they were Marines. They said they were and mentioned the three young ones were fresh from boot camp.
All of them looked me in the eye. No hostility, no arrogance, no swagger.
Just quiet confidence. I asked a few questions, the last of which was, do you train hard? They said "yes Sir" in unison. I said well guys in that cause today your money is no good here. I reached over and took their bill.
I sat back down and held my wifes hand while she cried. She remembered me at that age. She remembered what its like when your man goes off to war.
When they left they all walked over to us and shook my hand. The diner was quiet and every eye in the place was on those boys as they left the building. Somehow they all seemed bigger and stronger than when they came in. I think we fed them something even more powerful than food.
I went to pay our bills, but there was a problem. Its seems that somebody had ALREADY PAID THEM. BOTH OF THEM. I looked out in the diner and nobody would make eye contact.
I thanked the cashier and left. I told my wife I felt bad and wished I knew who had paid the bills. She asked me if when I was a soldier did I train hard?
I said yes, yes I did. She said then in that case it looks like your money is no good in there today.
Happy Thanksgiving.
In comes six young men. I eyed them warily. Then I noticed the hair cuts.
The clean clothing. The quiet respectful manner in which they treated the waitress. Finally I noticed a shirt: U.S. Marines
For some reason they really got to me. So young and proud. So willing to throw their young lives into battle to keep me and my family safe.
So I walked over and said Hi. I asked them if they were Marines. They said they were and mentioned the three young ones were fresh from boot camp.
All of them looked me in the eye. No hostility, no arrogance, no swagger.
Just quiet confidence. I asked a few questions, the last of which was, do you train hard? They said "yes Sir" in unison. I said well guys in that cause today your money is no good here. I reached over and took their bill.
I sat back down and held my wifes hand while she cried. She remembered me at that age. She remembered what its like when your man goes off to war.
When they left they all walked over to us and shook my hand. The diner was quiet and every eye in the place was on those boys as they left the building. Somehow they all seemed bigger and stronger than when they came in. I think we fed them something even more powerful than food.
I went to pay our bills, but there was a problem. Its seems that somebody had ALREADY PAID THEM. BOTH OF THEM. I looked out in the diner and nobody would make eye contact.
I thanked the cashier and left. I told my wife I felt bad and wished I knew who had paid the bills. She asked me if when I was a soldier did I train hard?
I said yes, yes I did. She said then in that case it looks like your money is no good in there today.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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