On a recent vacation to Florida my wife and I visited the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. During our visit I met an elderly gentleman who had served on my ship's namesake, the USS Enterprise, during WWII. For the space of nearly a half hour he recounted some of the many engagements he and his shipmates had been through, she and I sat spellbound throughout. When he finished we thanked him for his time and respectfully shook his hand. My wife later said that it was her favorite memory of the trip, I married the right woman.
Last Friday, as a business associate and I sat down to lunch, I happened to notice an elderly gentleman entering the dining room. He walked slowly as he leaned on his cane, and I saw that he was wearing an overseas cap of the type you'd see at any local VFW hall, it identified him as a WWII veteran. As the man shuffled past my table I rose to my feet out of respect, not resuming my seat until after he had been seated. My companion later observed that I had been the only one to do so. He's one of the guys who put their lives on the line so that I wouldn't grow up speaking German, none of them will ever pass my table and find me seated.
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Kevin Haendiges
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Last edited by kevin1; 12-08-2009 at 03:43 AM.
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Think I read something somewhere that we are losing over 1000 WWII vets a day .A few years and it will be 1000 Korea.8 or 10 more it will be Guy's from the "Nam".For all vets who saw combat or not let me say "WELCOME HOME BROTHER"............Alton
