[Ron Wood]

This afternoon I was making my usual run to Lowes for gardening supplies. About a mile before I got to the store there was an elderly gentleman in the street pushing a walker. He waved at me to flag me down. I stopped and asked what he wanted. He was clean, well dressed and wearing a Philippine campaign ribbon ball cap, obviously not a homeless person. He was tired and wondered if I could give him a ride to where he could call a taxi. It was apparent that he was a little bit disoriented and, although quite hard of hearing, generally pleasant and coherent. I got him and his walker into the car (right in the middle of traffic…folks were great and waited patiently until he was well on board).

He had a handwritten piece of paper with an address well over on the other side of town. In El Paso that translates to about 40 miles. He said that he could get a taxi but would be glad to pay me if I could drive him there. He said that it was his home and that he had been with his son but the son had moved and he wanted to get back home.

I told him I would find him help and transportation so I took him to the regional police station nearby. To make a long story short, he is a 95 year old WWII veteran and had just been reported as a “missing person”. He had wandered away from his son’s home where he now lives (the address on the paper really was his home before he moved in with his son). The police were able to track down his family and one of the “Great Generation” is home safely tonight. I am honored and blessed. Our old soldiers are a national treasure and we need to look out for them.