The Old Man - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

jangel · #1 (**permalink**) 06-12-2009, 03:28 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 C adillac 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. 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 to 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

Semper fi! Hooorah!

Bass Ackwards · #2 (**permalink**) 06-12-2009, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jangel

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 C adillac 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. 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 to 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

Semper fi! Hooorah!

TEARS ARE STREAMING DOWN MY FACE.TY,we are all related,were humans.

Bass Ackwards · #3 (**permalink**) 06-13-2009, 04:19 AM

If you only knew how personaly that hit me.MORE THAN WORDS CAN SAY.

Bass Ackwards · #4 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 01:04 AM

+/-Thats what he said when I picked him up hitch hiking.With a limp,a grunt and a toss we had all his worldly belongings in the back of my pick up truck.Before we went any further I asked him,watch ya need ,you hungry,where you headed.Without hesitation he said to me,Oh hell son,you looking to far ahead for me,lets get in the truck first.And at that point he re introduced himself ,Sargent Chris (gator)Hamilton 101 airborne.Then he said to me,stop at that gas station,we did,he said pump 7 pull up.When we stoped,he pulled out a wad of cash,looked at me n said this.Moneys easy, love is hard to come by,you got LOVE so i ll give you money.And he jumped outa my truck,yelln,filler up,I stood speechless.Right then n there I KNEW,MY LIFE WAS GONA CHANGE.He came outa that store with a long list of items,only thing he said,ICE,priceless commodity.To this day i am mesmerized by those turn of events in my life. I have to say, he not only surprised me,HE blew me away,put me on my heals. A series of goes, lefts n rights, slow, n ,1 easy.We were in the woods,he said to me WELCOME,welcome to my home.We got hammered,when i woke,he said ,take a shower those cloths should fit.He built a platform,with 15 buckets,black,on top of it.A gravity fed shower head that was amazing.He even had curtains,n towels yes in the middle of the woods,this HOMELESS MAN,or that IS what I assumed had CREATED his own world.Over time ,we had many talks,now this is months n years,hes still there.My code name when I approach his camp is, ALPHA OMEGA.THE BEGINNING AND THE END.He shared with me,stories of scooping his brothers guts up,only to return and eat breakfast on or around there dead enemy's corpses.I AM AMERICAS KILLER.I will kill no more,Iam safe here.This is what he said to me.To rotate back to a world that wants to ***** n scwabble over a few miner things,I spent 4 tours in NAM,RIDICULOUS THINGS I WILL NOT TOLERATE.I see this man 2 times a week,bring him supplies,he will never suffer under my watch.PEACE N LOVE N tears.

jangel · #5 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 07:42 AM

Wonderful ! That is truely a fine thing to read about...and I do not mean to belittle it by saying that as words are hard to pick.

Peace

Trek · #6 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 09:37 PM

Jangel,

Thank you for sharing this story. I wish more people would take the time to follow your lead and lend a helping hand to someone in need.

Trek

Quote:

Originally Posted by jangel

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 C adillac 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. 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 to 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

Semper fi! Hooorah!

CAMSTER626 · #7 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 02:07 AM

As I read this I was completly covered in goosebumps...Thank you jangel for sharing this

...and THANK YOU to all the vets out there for your service to our country...God bless.

CAM

justplainbill · #8 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 02:10 AM

HooRah! To another Marine that old man is one step down from God.