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 gentleman 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 and 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 alright, but it felt good to have stood next to greatness
and courage and an honor to have been in his presence.

America is not at war. The U.S. Military is at war. America is at the Mall.