Dining With History

Some are old men now, with gray hair. They are bent and broken, and have earing aids. They walk with a little bit of a shuffle, or perhaps a cane or a limp and some have hands that tremble bit. A gaze into their eyes sometimes betray a hint of glocomma. They are quiet, and mild, and courteous. They are gentle, and gentlemen, but once, long ago, they were fierce.

These are the men who freed Europe from the Nazis. They defeated Japan on tiny islands across the Pacific. The rescued Korea from the Communists. They fought from Saigon to Cambodia, from Grenada to Panama, from Iraq to Afganistan. They went in harm's way and lived, and have never forgotten their friends who died.

Yesterday, we fed them barbeque at the Clark American Legion.

Living in an age when football players and rock stars are mistaken for heros, it was an honor to dine with so many real ones.