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 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 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 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 . Thanks to those who served...and those who

supported them.

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!

Remember,

Freedom isn't "Free"

-- thousands have paid the price so you can

enjoy what you have today.

LET'S DO THIS --JUST 19 WORDS

GOD OUR FATHER,

WALK THROUGH MY HOUSE

AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES AND ILLNESSES;

AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEAL MY FAMILY

IN JESUS ' NAME. AMEN

This prayer is so powerful.

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