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Background Song Artist Credit: "Green Berets" ( Johnny Horton )

"A Few Good Men And One Darn Good Older Man"
By gy sgt Robert  Hunter

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 turned 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 hankerchief 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 two 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 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 Guadal canal.
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. The two 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 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 was......."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 us freedom for America"
"America is not at war the United States 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!
"GOD BLESS AMERICA, OUR VETERANS AND ALL OUR TROOPS"