I hope, as those who raise their hands to join the Armed Forces this year, there will be more compassion and a stronger sense of “taking care of our own” coming from them than what I witnessed this afternoon at an intersection between the Navy and Marine Corps bases on Terminal Boulevard in Norfolk.
At the height of rush hour, the hubster and I were on our way to the Marine Corps Exchange at Camp Elmore. Navy die-hards, we just plain love the good sales at MCX and shop the store religiously.
A half-mile short of the turn-in lane to the Exchange, we spotted her: A young, Afro-American mother with three young children in tow desperately trying to change a flat tire on the shoulder of the road.
As we breezed by, Daryl said, “We need to go back and help that lady.”
At least fifty cars had passed on both sides of the road as we turned around at the next intersection. Every one of those cars bore a DOD sticker on the windshield. Not one car stopped to give this woman and her kids a hand.
Not even the car we saw when we backtracked that had stopped with two military Afro-American males in the front seat at the intersection where she was trying to change that tire, intent on turning right into traffic.
All branches of the Armed Forces pride themselves on “taking care of their own.” That doesn’t just mean while in battle, guys, or when you are out there braving the rough seas on a ship. It also means right here at home when another service member’s wife or their kids need a helping hand.
It shouldn’t take a retired Navy senior chief to be the only one who turns around and pulls up behind that car to help another service member’s family out.
I’d like to think we have a new breed joining our forces today - the kind of soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who would have stopped long before we did to help get this mother and her kids safely on their way.
