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Treat them like heroes
By: Samuel Wright
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Posted by admin
Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a person who was young enough to be my son, yet in his few years on this Earth, he has done more to be proud of than I might ever do in my life.
While my wife and I were dining with friends at Cool Hand Luke’s in Santa Maria, we saw the waiters and waitresses connecting tables together for a large group. We were worried that it was going to be one of those loud, rowdy bunches of kids or adults that like to come in and disturb everyone. When the group came in and sat down, they were young and a little rowdy, but they had very good reason to be.
As it turns out, the table was occupied by the family of a Marine who had just returned from Iraq, and they had all come in to celebrate his return. Once word got out, several people, myself included, went up to meet and shake hands with this “kid” and to tell him that they were proud of him. All the while, he was beaming like he just scored the winning touchdown. If I had been able to afford it, I would have paid for their entire meal, if for no other reason than to show respect for him being a Marine and for the honor of celebrating his return with his family.
In a past article, I wrote a piece about random acts of kindness. If there is any group of people most deserving of random acts of kindness, it would be our soldiers — all of them. So I will ask you all one favor: If you have the means and happen to see a soldier in a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, etc., buy him or her lunch, a drink or just walk up and say, “Thanks” (unless you meet a Marine, then say “Semper Fi!”).
We owe it to them for all they do for us. It may not seem so, but they are the ones punching the time clock for all we are free to do as Americans.
