Another Iwo Jima Commemoration story.

The night before the Heroes Parade on Main Street, my cousin, Gary, and I went to a local restaurant to drink Guinness Stout. We were joined by a friend, Bobby, who has three kids in the Marine Corps, two girls and one boy. We watched all the older people coming in and out, trying to see if we could figure out who was a veteran and who wasn’t. We even spotted some of the reenactors who had to be Marines.

We saw two older gentlemen and their wives leave the dining area. One of the men was rail thin, wearing a black leather coat with a thick fur collar. It was darned cold outside, so that didn’t seem too out of place. The other guy was barrel-chested sported a Marine Red blazer and overseas cap, I think they’re called. Bobby shouted out, “Semper Fi, gentlemen!” The two of them immediately changed course and came over to our table. We thanked them for their service, welcomed them to town, and Bobby whipped out his wallet to show off his three Marines. While we spoke with their husbands, the wives stood by the wall waiting. The gentlemen thanked us for welcoming them to town and left.

At 11 pm, Gary and I decided to leave. Bobby said he would stay a while longer, and immediately went off to the table full of reenactors, flipping open his wallet like Captain Kirk signaling the Enterprise.