Just thought that I would share with you all the experience and privelege I ws given.  Awhile back I went down into the Nisqually Valley here in Washington State to visit and pick the brain of a friend of mine at one of teh local watering holes.  While we were sitting there enjoying some cold beverages just talking about AR's, he stops and say to me "hey do you know that guy sitting over there near the wall?"  I look over and figure out who he is talking about I answer "no" should I?  I knew it was a laoded question and that I would find out shortly, he looks at me and says "that right there is a Hero!"  I am still not quit catching on to what he is talking about.  Well instead of just filling me in, he says let me go introduce you.  All I can think of is .......nothing, who is this guy that is sitting quietly with a woman and chatting with some friends?   Well my friend walks me over and just starts talking away to the unknown man.  Hey Wilbur!  he says,  "I would like to introduce to a friend of mine who like you is a soldier"  well Wilbur stands up and reaches out his hand and shakes mine and says "thank you".  Well I am still not quit clear on what the inside joke is that I have become,  Wilbur still holding his hand smiles and once again say thank you for doing what you are as a soldier (my friend then pipes up and tells Wilbur that I am an NCO in the AF)  Wilbur releases my hand and stands there a second and says " young man I would like to give you something"  slowly he reaches into his pocket brings out his wallet and presents me with two cards about the size of baseball cards.  Wilbur is smiling and so is my buddy, I am about to learn what this is all about.  I flip over the 1st card and there is a picture of a soldier being presented a medal by none other than President Kennedy!  I then flip over the other card and it a Medal Of Honor society card with the name Wilburn Ross on it.  I know it may sound dumb but the almost instantaneous action on my part was to crack to attention and render a salute.  No one around seemed to mind as this local watering hole is just south of Ft Lewis and McChord AFB.   I was absolutely amazed and so very proud at that moment.  I told him that I was the one who should be thanking him, not vice versa.  He just smiled and said that we all do what we are supposed to when the oppurtunity comes along.  I just stood there for a moment amazed at how modest and sincere he was.  I once again thanked him, shook his hand again and thanked him for the gift of his cards.   I offered to buy him a drink but he said that "no I need to be moving along".  That was it, a short conversation between two soldiers of completely different eras.  I was very proud that day and would like to share a link that I found later that evening when I looked to see what he had to deal with to be a Recipient of the Medal Of Honor.  Thank you Wilburn Ross for waht you and many others did not because you wanted to be heros, but because you did what was right.  


http://www.cmohs.org/recipients/photo-citations/pcit-Ross-Wilburn-K.htm

Scorpion34 OUT!

Your lucky to touch history like that!

My promotion to Sgt. is signed by none other than Wesley Fox, another MH recipient!

Just a thought .................... but.

That’s a little tough to read , you might want to go back and edit it into paragraphs .

Thanks for the story. People that done great things, are often extremely modest.

Editting in paragraphs would enhance the readability a bit.

Quoted: Just thought that I would share with you all the experience and privelege I ws given.  Awhile back I went down into the Nisqually Valley here in Washington State to visit and pick the brain of a friend of mine at one of teh local watering holes.  While we were sitting there enjoying some cold beverages just talking about AR's, he stops and say to me "hey do you know that guy sitting over there near the wall?"  I look over and figure out who he is talking about I answer "no" should I?  I knew it was a laoded question and that I would find out shortly, he looks at me and says "that right there is a Hero!"  I am still not quit catching on to what he is talking about.  Well instead of just filling me in, he says let me go introduce you.  All I can think of is .......nothing, who is this guy that is sitting quietly with a woman and chatting with some friends?   Well my friend walks me over and just starts talking away to the unknown man.  Hey Wilbur!  he says,  "I would like to introduce to a friend of mine who like you is a soldier"  well Wilbur stands up and reaches out his hand and shakes mine and says "thank you".  Well I am still not quit clear on what the inside joke is that I have become,  Wilbur still holding his hand smiles and once again say thank you for doing what you are as a soldier (my friend then pipes up and tells Wilbur that I am an NCO in the AF)  Wilbur releases my hand and stands there a second and says " young man I would like to give you something"  slowly he reaches into his pocket brings out his wallet and presents me with two cards about the size of baseball cards.  Wilbur is smiling and so is my buddy, I am about to learn what this is all about.   I flip over the 1st card and there is a picture of a soldier being presented a medal by none other than President Kennedy!  I then flip over the other card and it a Medal Of Honor society card with the name Wilburn Ross on it.  I know it may sound dumb but the almost instantaneous action on my part was to crack to attention and render a salute.  No one around seemed to mind as this local watering hole is just south of Ft Lewis and McChord AFB.   I was absolutely amazed and so very proud at that moment.   I told him that I was the one who should be thanking him, not vice versa.  He just smiled and said that we all do what we are supposed to when the oppurtunity comes along.  I just stood there for a moment amazed at how modest and sincere he was.  I once again thanked him, shook his hand again and thanked him for the gift of his cards.   I offered to buy him a drink but he said that "no I need to be moving along".   That was it, a short conversation between two soldiers of completely different eras.  I was very proud that day and would like to share a link that I found later that evening when I looked to see what he had to deal with to be a Recipient of the Medal Of Honor.  Thank you Wilburn Ross for waht you and many others did not because you wanted to be heros, but because you did what was right.   www.cmohs.org/recipients/photo-citations/pcit-Ross-Wilburn-K.htm Scorpion34 OUT!

Link made hot for a true hero.

Wow, thats a hell of a hero.

Quoted: Wow, thats a hell of a hero.

+1. Incredible soldier.

I've read a lot of the MOH citations, and even among them his stands out.

ARChoo,
Thank you for the hot link and for the paragraph spacing.  


Scorpion34 OUT!