Met one the other day. You have undoubtedly seen them . Standing outside local stores, wearing red blazers and wearing their VFW piss-cutters. Handing out little red flowers to those who stop and make a donation.
Saturday, in case you missed the memo, was Armed Forces Day.
Well, I stopped to chat with this old timer, asked him what branch he was in, when he served, etc. He told me he enlisted in the Navy in 1944, when he turned seventeen and dropped out of High school. He told me he served aboard the destroyer USS Walke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Walke_(DD-723)
Interestingly, the Walke participated in the Normandy D-Day Landings, then was among the ships sent to the Pacific after D-Day and the liberation of France lessened the need for Naval vessels in the Atlantic. I asked him about his Pacific experience and all he said was he missed most of the late WW2 landings, and never really went in harm's way. He was in the 3rd Fleet, and if he was aboard for most of '45, he probably did see some hot action. He smiled and his eyes sparkled when he talked about a visit to New Zealand and how the folks treated the Americans, how grateful they were, and how they shared their food and drink with the soldiers and sailors, even though they had little to share.
We talked for about 10 minutes. He said he had to sit down. I shook his hand, thanked him and moved on.


.......during the time I spoke to him, only two other people made donations. One guy was wearing an Army cap. The other was a former Coastie.