Damn Whipper Snappers

The world will never change if you don't led by example and pay your do's. (And yes I realize that the dues you pay is spelled dues and when you do something its spelled do but I meant it like I spelled it. . . . Sorry that was for my OCD readers.) One day we will all be old unless of course you leave us early. Lots of elders are lonely and don't have too many people to talk too.

When I was stationed in Abilene TX. We use to go to the mall . . . . . a lot. There was not much to do in Abilene at the time. Sometimes I would just sit on the benches and watch people go by while my wife would look in some clothing stores. After a while I notice that every time I was there this elderly man was doing the same thing I was. So one day I just happen to end up on the same bench. I was a lot younger then and there was a lot more WWII vets around.

Any way the older man told me this story that I'm about to tell you. He was in the Army during World War II in the European theater. They had been marching for a while when they came up to this bridge. Now if you have ever watched a WWII movie you would know that bridges where a big commodity. We fought for them, we blew them up, but the most dangerous thing was crossing them. So he and his small squad spread out and crossed the bridge cautiously. The bridge was large and crossed a river. Every thing was going fine until their first guy reached the end and that's when it happened.

The Germans opened up with their machine guns in a perfectly executed ambush. Bullet were everywhere and he said his comrades where falling all around him. There was no where to go so he jumped over the side of the bridge. When he jumped he was thirty to forty feet above the ground and he plunged down through the trees and bushes when he hit the steep hill he rolled down and didn't stop until he was at the edge of the river laying partially in the water. He heard the firing stop. minutes later he could hear the voices speaking German above him. He dare not move.

Eventually he couldn't hear the voices anymore but he was so scared of being discovered that he didn't move for what he said was a long time. I don't think he really knew how long he had waited before he got up. He said he finally got the nerve and rolled over and checked himself out. He moved everything and miraculously he only had a few bumps and scratches. He climbed the steep hill up to the road and finally after watching for a long time he looked on the bridge and discovered that he was the only one that had survived, When he told me the story he got a little chocked up at the end.

Not too long after he had finished his story his wife came up and told him it was time to leave. A couple of weeks later I sat down beside him again and He told me the exact same story. later on his wife asked me if he had told me the story again and I said he had and she apologized but I didn't mind because I got to meet a bonafide war hero.

Now I know you young Whippier Snappers might say all he did was jump off a bridge but that's not your fault. You haven't lived as long as I have and you don't realize that he not only survived but he flourished, and that right there is what makes you a hero.

You know I saw him two more times and he told me that same story again both times. By that time I already knew the story by heart so I sat quietly as he told his great story and I watched the other people going by in both directions.

I never saw him again after that but it's safe to say that we had both benefited from our short relationship. If you don't slow down every once in a while to listen to a elder what makes you think your kids will do it on there own. And Oh Ya, even when you are 90 you will still want to be heard but it won't do you any good if the younger generation acts like you did when you had the chance to make a difference.

Thanks for listening to my . . . . his story.