YellowAircraft
Posts: 3086
Joined: 1/5/2002
From: San Diego, CA, USA
Status: offline
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Hi,
This story isn't really r/c-related, but I thought you guys might find it interesting. It's kinda corny, but for aviation-nostalgia types like me, it has some meaning.
Earlier tonight, I took my wife and son to dinner at Hometown Buffet (I eat a lot, so they HATE to see me coming...). It was relatively full, and it took us a while to find a table against a wall (because my wife is nursing and she likes the extra privacy). We found one and started to have our dinner. It wasn't long before we noticed that the table next to us seated a bunch of unsupervised kids who belonged to an uninterested pair of women at yet another table. Across from the rowdy kids was seated an old man, alone, and not enjoying the noise and mess the kids were making. The kids were running around, throwing handfulls of salt at each other, shooting ice-cream toppings at each other through straws, etc. At one point, after giving the moms the 'hard stare' for a long while, I finally asked the kids to settle down, or at least stop bumping our table. When I said something to the kids, the moms began to say something unfriendly-sounding in a foriegn language. I smiled and said, "Lady, we're just trying to eat our dinner."
After a while, the old man got tired of salt and ice-cream sprinkles landing in or near his food, and decided to get up and try to relocate. Unfortunately, there was really nowhere else to sit. As he walked past us, with his food and drink in-hand, he noticed my son in his car-carrier. He immediately began to smile at him and make baby noises. He excitedly asked his age, told us he was cute, then started to try to tickle him under the chin. Now, normally I draw the line at people touching his face, but this poor guy seemed so irritated before--but now so suddenly happy. That's when he noticed the copy of Model Aviation that I had brought. Now, normally I don't have much use for that mag, but it's something that keeps showing up in the mail and it helps me tune the baby out when he starts fussing...
When he saw the magazine, he lit up like a Christmas tree! Before long, he was asking about models, engines, and whether anyone made a really nice model of an Me-262. Finally, I invited him to sit with us, and he gratefully accepted. The conversation went from 262s to modern model turbines. He was amazed at what I told him. When I asked about his fascination with 262s, he dropped the bomb: He was so interested in them because he had gotten a couple of shots off at one over the skies of Gernamy in WWII! He told me that he was at the controls of a P-51D for four months when he encountered his 262. He was at the controls for about 6 months when he was shot down and captured. He broke several bones by landing in a tree and spent several months as a POW.
At the time we met him, we were about ready to leave. We ended up staying there for another hour and a half. This fellow gave me advice on everything from safe civil aviation to 'love and marriage' to staying healthy by drinking red wine and dancing! He was a delightful old guy who loved life and loved talking. It was clear to me that he was very happy to have someone listening to him and treating him with the proper respect he deserved--not only as a vet, but as a senior citizen. By the time it was time to leave, he did tell me that my courtesy made up for the shameful behavior of those women who didn't care to corral their kids. He mourned the fact that young people these days don't seem to have an respect anymore. After that, he did a little two-step move, complete with a smile and a wink for my wife, then went on his way. Before he did, I stood up and shook his hand, then thanked him for his brave service to our nation and the world in our time of need. Then, he was gone.
After he left, I asked my wife if she saw the way he lit up when I showed him my magazine. She asked me if I saw the way I lit up when he told me he was a combat pilot in WWII. I really felt honored that he had dinner with us. I really felt like finding and choking those kids when I remembered the disdainful looks and comments they and their parents gave him when he moved away from their table. My folks taught me to respect my elders, and I'm glad they did, too. To some people in that dining hall, he was just some old man. It turned out he was a real live hero in a conflict where no less than the freedom of the world was at stake. I guess you just never know....
By the way, I let him keep the magazine.
To all you WWII vets (and all war veterans) who are RCU readers: Thank you for putting it on the line for the rest of us. I appreciate, admire and salute you all.
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Yellow Aircraft, JetCat Engines, Skymaster ARF+ and Turn Key Jets
www.cyctheatre.com
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The People You Run Into... - 
. When we finished we shook hands at the net and talked about where we were from and what I was doing up in his neighborhood to play tennis (it's about 35 minutes from my house). I said that not only was it a convenient location, but that the best hobby store in our area is only a few minutes away and that I was planning on stopping by there to pick up some stuff for my out of control r/c warbird fixation. 