The threat of a blizzard roaring through our region this weekend hangs over us, and it makes me think about what needs doing before it hits. I’ve always said I don’t mind North Dakota winters so I’d better get mentally prepared for it. This morning I headed to the hospital again to visit the father-in-law who seems to be doing very well. Tomorrow will be a two-for-one visit since my sister-in-law will also be a patient on the same orthopedic floor with a knee replacement job.
I enjoy meeting people with interesting stories to tell. This morning we had to wait in the hospital hallway while nurses tended to Adam, and as we did so the gentleman in the next room stood in his doorway trying to get a staff person’s attention. After a bit one of the aides came and asked him what he needed, his answer was “Coffee, please.” He spoke to us in his Massachusett’s accent, and it wasn’t long before I realized he wanted to talk to someone. He told us he’d been hospitalized because he’d had a stroke. It didn’t take long before he said he was a veteran of the Korean War and was thinking of finding a veteran’s home. I mentioned the new one under construction in Lisbon but he didn’t care much if it was new or not but what kind of people ran it. We needed to report everything we said so it wasn’t long before I saw him dig a small hearing aid out of his pocket and fit it to his ear.
He walked with a limp so I asked if he had been in combat; he told of two bullet wounds in his leg and a bayonet stab wound in his shoulder. Yes, it was hand-to-hand combat. Was he a rifleman or a machine-gunner? He was a chaplain’s assistant. I was unsure if a clergy type carried weapons. He said, “I carried a .45 pistol, but I couldn’t shoot it with a Bible in my hand!” Apparently he had to set the Bible down since every able bodied man was needed to repel the waves coming at their hilltop position. By then, he had visibly tired and wanted to go back to lie down. I think I’m going to try and find him tomorrow and visit with him again.
