Veterans at the flea market

We stopped at a booth at a North Carolina flea market and bought some stuff from a Vietnam vet. After we thanked him for what he did for us and our country, we talked to him for a while. He had been in for quite a while and out for 20 years. He told us that he really missed it which surprised us until he said that you got real close to the people that you serve with and that he was still having trouble fitting into the real world. He mentioned getting into the selling antique glass business by mistake with some one that he met "at the place that you go when you get depressed. Soon, he realized that he loved the business and that he was good at it. Just then a WW II Vet walked slowly by and he ran around his counter and shook his hand and said, "now this is really the man". The man quietly told us that he was in Normandy on Omaha beach on D day and that the Lord had been with him that day. He said that he was 18 when he enlisted and that when he was 20 and wanted to marry over there, he had to get permission from the Army....and his mama. We Asked about his family and he had children, grand child and great children and great great grand children. I thought of all the the generations that would not have been born, if he had died that day. I asked if he had told them his story and he said that he had a notebook folder with the newspaper clippings , reports and information that surrounded that day in history. I wish that I had a tape recorder and could talk to him all after noon. Soon another Vietnam vet showed up and shook hands with our older gentleman. showing him all the respect that he deserves, the greatest generation. I told him that I hoped his family listened and understood. He told me that the problem that he sees today is lack the of discipline and respect. He told us that if he had come home and said that he got in trouble at school... after he picked himself off the floor, he would have been told to respect his teacher. He also seemed sad that we do not honor our vets by celebrating Veterans day or Memorial day. Mark and I felt honored being with 3 of our American hero in a flea market in the south. This is why we travel.