To be part of the U.S Marine Corps is a privilege. These people know the meaning of sacrifice and loyalty like no other, and we show our deepest respect for their service. One man shared a story of the meeting he had with a retired Marine whom he met for the first time but felt the need to approach and say hi and thank you. What he got in response left him overwhelmed. You can read his story below. “Semper Fi, we respect your generation,” the man said to the veteran out of respect. The veteran’s response to the friendly man came out of nowhere.

I saw a man with a Marine Raider pin, Purple Heart, and other pins on his hat at Starbucks this morning. I walked up and said “Semper Fi, we respect your generation.” He told me “Semper Fi, 1st Raider Battalion, Alpha company, Okinawa.” If anyone knows anything about history, they know these men are made from the salt of the Earth.

He began telling me stories of when he got hit. He said he would load specific magazines with tracers because it would light the Japanese buildings on fire. He lit 3 buildings on fire, in a guun fight, and told me “those sons of bi***es didn’t like that. They retaliated with a rocket. It ki**ed my squad leader and the A[ssistant]-gunner loading the belt. All I got was a chunk out of my hip. The Corpsman ran over and started working on me. Then they shelled our position so hard, it ki**ed almost everyone. I don’t remember what happened over the next week of my life. I woke up in a hospital, and a doctor was sucking fluid out of my chest with a syringe. I guess I got hit in the chest with a machine guun. I lost a lung.” He started laughing and said “How does a man live to be 90 with just one lung? Hahaha.”