I had an amazing experience this weekend, so I thought I'd share it with y'all.
I was running some errands and on my way home I saw an old man walking up quite a steep hill with two armloads of groceries. It was hot, and it was quite a hill, so I pulled over and offered him a ride home. He made a joke about how often pretty girls offer him rides - he said "I can hardly get a morning walk in without some pretty blonde offering me a ride home! Drives me crazy!" He had this THICK southern accent. We both laughed. He was in his 80s at least, maybe once he was a big man but now his back is bent and his arms are very thin. I smiled and went over and took his groceries and he got in the car.
I have my Gongfu school's logo on the back window of my car, and as we were driving to his house he asked me about that. I told him a little about my training and about the school and he said he'd trained some martial arts in his day.
His house was small and kind of run-down in a country way. I collected his groceries and carried them up to his porch and set them down. He offered me some iced tea and said his daughter was coming by later to visit, asked if I might like to play him a game of chess. I accepted the tea and the challenge and we sat on his porch and talked for a couple hours.
His name is Mr. Keenan. Turns out he was an army ranger in the Korean war. Those guys were the toughest of the tough. He showed me his medals, He had photographs and other souveniers. He told me a story that earned him a medal of honor, the purple heart, which he let me hold as he told me this story.
He and his buddy were pinned down between a machine gun and single fire weapons from 3 or 4 other angles. The tactical requirement for this mission required pairs to weave through this dense shack filled neighborhood and look for civilians and get them to safety as the central part of this village was occupied and they were in danger. His friend had been shot in the leg (Mr. K said "leg shot off") and in the upper arm, and Mr. Keenan had removed his pants and then his shirt to tie off above the wounds. They stayed like that for a long time until support showed up and got them out of there. His friend, unable to move, and him, in his underwear, being shot at relentlessly.
The story went on and ended up with him receiving the medal. His friend lost that leg, and they stayed in touch after the war until he died in 2002. I asked a lot of questions. Mr. Keenan's daughter showed up and I was introduced to her and then I thanked Mr. K for the tea and for an amazing afternoon. I said to his daughter "you must be so proud of your father, he's really a great man."
And Mr. K interrupted me and said, "Hell no, That's what life is, it's all just getting shot at in your underwear. Just because they handed me a medal for it doesn't make me any better than the next guy."
I was running some errands and on my way home I saw an old man walking up quite a steep hill with two armloads of groceries. It was hot, and it was quite a hill, so I pulled over and offered him a ride home. He made a joke about how often pretty girls offer him rides - he said "I can hardly get a morning walk in without some pretty blonde offering me a ride home! Drives me crazy!" He had this THICK southern accent. We both laughed. He was in his 80s at least, maybe once he was a big man but now his back is bent and his arms are very thin. I smiled and went over and took his groceries and he got in the car.
I have my Gongfu school's logo on the back window of my car, and as we were driving to his house he asked me about that. I told him a little about my training and about the school and he said he'd trained some martial arts in his day.
His house was small and kind of run-down in a country way. I collected his groceries and carried them up to his porch and set them down. He offered me some iced tea and said his daughter was coming by later to visit, asked if I might like to play him a game of chess. I accepted the tea and the challenge and we sat on his porch and talked for a couple hours.
His name is Mr. Keenan. Turns out he was an army ranger in the Korean war. Those guys were the toughest of the tough. He showed me his medals, He had photographs and other souveniers. He told me a story that earned him a medal of honor, the purple heart, which he let me hold as he told me this story.
He and his buddy were pinned down between a machine gun and single fire weapons from 3 or 4 other angles. The tactical requirement for this mission required pairs to weave through this dense shack filled neighborhood and look for civilians and get them to safety as the central part of this village was occupied and they were in danger. His friend had been shot in the leg (Mr. K said "leg shot off") and in the upper arm, and Mr. Keenan had removed his pants and then his shirt to tie off above the wounds. They stayed like that for a long time until support showed up and got them out of there. His friend, unable to move, and him, in his underwear, being shot at relentlessly.
The story went on and ended up with him receiving the medal. His friend lost that leg, and they stayed in touch after the war until he died in 2002. I asked a lot of questions. Mr. Keenan's daughter showed up and I was introduced to her and then I thanked Mr. K for the tea and for an amazing afternoon. I said to his daughter "you must be so proud of your father, he's really a great man."
And Mr. K interrupted me and said, "Hell no, That's what life is, it's all just getting shot at in your underwear. Just because they handed me a medal for it doesn't make me any better than the next guy."
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