Saturday morning, we spent several hours listening to the stories of a living legend. His name is Justin. He lives in a simple house in our little town of Rocky Point, but he . . . . he is a living legend. Justin is a WWII veteran. He was part of a 10 man team on a B-24 bomber. I don't remember the correct title, but he was the man that sat in the nose of the plane & fired the two machine guns from that location.
I felt like a child as I sat there, hanging on his every word. The history geek inside of me was in full force as I listened to him tell stories of missions that should have ended his life but never did. He was always quick to pause in those moments & say, "But that was no coincidence. God knew. God had plans for me & I just hope I have lived my life the way He wanted me to." We gasped & laughed and teared up when he told us the story of how he met his wife, of 67 years, on a train in 1941- and how he told us that "if there ever was a man & a woman that were one, it was me and her." {She passed away last August} I consider it an incredible honor and privilege to have sat in his front yard as he shared these amazing stories of a war that seems to have been deluded by the years. I'm glad that my children had the chance to listen to him talk - no history book could ever teach them what a few of his stories could. He is the kindest, most gentlest man you will ever met & I was incredibly blessed by his presence.
