The other evening I was at a local "watering hole" which had live music. I seen an older man at a table with a younger man and woman. When the older man turned his head I could read his hat and it read WW2 veteran. I told the waitress to see what he was drinking and get him one on me. The waitress asked him what he was drinking because someone wanted to buy him a drink. The gentleman asked who wants to buy him a drink and the waitress pointed me out. And in doing so the veteran gave me a thumbs up and mouthed the words "thank you".
I walked over to the man and said "NO, THANK YOU" and shook his hand. The younger man was his grandson and his girlfriend. I asked if I could get a picture with the veteran with which he smiled and beeming with pride said yes. The grandson snapped the picture and even though the live music was playing I could not hear it because I was involved in listening to this veteran share his memories. The grandson and his girlfriend really did not understand or comprehend what was going on.
After talking with the veteran for awhile I returned to my seat. Later on the grandson came up to me and wanted to thank me. He says because that was the first time he had ever heard his grandfather talk about the war and how talking about it put a real smile on his grandads face. I told the grandson that his grandfather is one of the reasons we are here today!