Military Transition - A Fellow Veteran

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Today I experienced a very heart felt moment. I saw a military veteran who was hungry and it ripped my heart apart. You may be wondering why it had such an affect on me. This gentleman, and I say gentleman, had served in the military like many of us. He still had a military haircut and was neat in appearance.

He asked me if I could spare some change for him to eat. Folks, this is the real world I'm talking about. There are many homeless veterans who were successful in the military, yet when they left the military, their lives took a turn that they didn't expect.

I was at McDonald's at the time and tears comes to my eyes as I type this. This gentleman had served in the Army and only wanted something to eat (he mentioned where he received training and what era he had served, Vietnam). I asked him if it was okay for me to buy him something to eat versus giving him money. Basically, I wanted to make sure that the money was for food. Guess what? He said he would appreciate me buying him something to eat.

I went inside McDonald's and I wanted for him to have a feast. I ordered a double big hamburger, large fries, soda, and two apple pies. In my heart, I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this with you. I just want for you to know there are many of us that are hurting. The only people who may fully understand us is another uniformed or former uniformed comrade.

This man was so happy to get the food and when I mentioned that I was a Military Transition Coach, his eyes lit up. I told him that no Vet would be hungry on my watch and I meant that with all of my heart. I believe this comment caught him by surprise. I turned my head so he could keep his dignity. He took the food and I mentioned my web site to help him in case he could get to a computer with internet access. I believe him when he said that he would look the site up.

As I drove off, I had to make a U-Turn to get to my destination. I ended up in front of this man going the opposite direction. He was sitting in front of the McDonalds eating his food. You could see he was finally content and appeared peaceful and at ease. I had such a great feeling that I had helped someone who I could understand that my heart was at rest because I had helped one of us. The most heart felt thing of it all is that he called me Ma'am when I asked him a question.

The next time you see someone who appears to be a drifter or homeless, with a baseball cap squared, with a close haircut, standing erect, ask yourself is this person a veteran? Our characteristics are universal and are very obvious if you're observant.

God Bless the man that I met today. May his travels bring him peace and tranquility. At one time in his life he wore a uniform, followed orders, sacrificed his life, and didn't know how to adjust to becoming a civilian when he left the military. Situations like this is why Veterans In Motion exist.

God Bless all who have served and are serving.


Johnetta Matthews
Military Transition Coach
www.veteransinmotion.com