Trucking brings me face to face with a Vietnam veteran
It’s amazing what a truck driver can encounter on a daily basis. All the sights and sounds they experience become so vast that they are soon forgotten and simply accepted as part of their daily lives. Experiences that few will know and even fewer can only dream of. I often stop and remember things like sliding down the back roads of the Blue Ridge Mountains…literally sliding down a snow covered Snowqualmie pass…or slowing down the platform a few points so I can take in the actual scenery . wild horses running across the plains of Wyoming…and sure enough, that time I had no choice but to stop in the middle of the road and let that huge moose walk in front of me in Caribou, Maine. All the sights, sounds and wonders that now only live in my memories…
Although I no longer operate on the highway, I am still “running” here in the state of Florida, averaging 420 miles per day. Not long ago I was making a delivery in Gainesville, Florida, at a small BP service station. As I parked, I noticed a haggard-looking man huddled under the overhang of the building. On work nights, I often have to deal with some “rough” characters approaching me for money or food, so I kept my eye on him. It wasn’t long until I knew he was homeless when he walked up to me and started the conversation:
“how you like to drive that thing?” I ask.
“It’s okay,” I replied, “I’ve been doing it for a long time.”
He stayed with me when I started my job and everything seemed to be going well. Just a lonely guy, I thought, in need of some company. He went back to where he had been and sat down next to a duffel bag that contained all of his belongings. Suddenly, she placed her hand on the bag and started shaking it back and forth saying, “Stand up! Stand up“I focused my attention back on him. Then, he began to shake his head from side to side, his eyes darting back and forth. I heard him mutter, “They’re dead… they’re all dead..”
A massive thunderstorm was moving into the area and I was working feverishly to get my job done before it hit. Suddenly, huge thunder and lightning struck and sent me running for cover. I immediately heard him shout: “INCOMING!” I was on the ground with my hands above my head and that’s when I realized something… I was in the presence of a hero.
I knew I had to do something to bring him back to reality, so I yelled, “HEY!…HEY!…you’re hungry“He got to his feet, his trembling subsided and a smile crossed his face,”I’m always hungry, man.“he laughed. I ran out to the truck and got a Gatorade and a ham and cheese sandwich.”Here“I said,”This is my last straw, so I’m going home, I don’t need them..” As the rain poured down and the thunder rumbled, I stayed with my new friend while he enjoyed the free food. My political side kicked in and I wondered why this man, why this hero… is left alone, forgotten by our government, and forced to live on the streets?
For the next thirty minutes, we talked about many things. . . from Florida weather to alligators to truck driving. . . and with each crack of thunder that bit his teeth, he would shout: “kaboom! followed by a fit of laughter. When the storm passed and moved further northwest, I said goodbye and told him to take care of himself. He shook my hand and thanked me for the drink and sandwich. Not once did he .asking for money or help of any kind.He was his own man…he was a hero.
As I started to pull out of the driveway, there was another loud clap of thunder, followed by a huge bolt of lightning. I looked up to see him staring up at the sky, his eyes flashing as bright as lightning. . . his arms going up and down. . . and I knew, once again, at that very moment that he was no longer with me in Gainesville, Florida. I waved goodbye to him, but he didn’t respond. He was gone. . . the hero had returned to Vietnam.
