DADADEL
A disabled veteran struggles in a Walmart parking lot, unnoticed by many. Yet, when this girl sees him, her uncommon reaction stands out, defying common indifference.
Morgan Wheeler from Fayetteville, WV, vividly recalls encountering a disabled veteran, perhaps in his 60s or 70s, struggling with his wheelchair in a Walmart parking lot. As she exited the store and entered her car, she had to pause, waiting for the veteran to pass by.
“As I watched him, I noticed that he was missing his right leg from the knee down and was wearing, what appeared to be old, government-issued, combat boots. He had not realized that I had started my car and was attempting to pull out, so when he saw me, he waved in an apologetic manner and rolled forward three more times and took another break.” Morgan recalled.
Morgan refused to leave. She reversed her car, parked, and approached the disabled veteran, introducing herself. Despite his refusal for help, she persisted, pushing him gently and sharing about herself.
She recalls: “I backed up my car the inches I had previously pulled forward, put it in park, turned off the engine, and got out. I walked up to him and introduced myself. He, quite grumpily, said that he was doing just fine. Me, being as stubborn as I am, insisted and proceeded to push him and tell him a little about myself.”
“He was very grumpy at first, but you could tell he was a proud veteran,” Moran told TODAY. “I really wanted to help him so I pushed through his comfort zone a bit.”
She pushed him despite his protests, disregarding his refusal of assistance. She persisted in conversation, undeterred by his attempts to silence her. “He interrupted me and said that he only needed help to the door, to which I picked up where I had left off before he interrupted me. I told him about Fayetteville, and my horses, and my nephews,” Morgan remembered.
As they approached the entrance, Morgan sustained her conversation with the man, showing her determination to delve deeper into his story. Beyond just pushing his wheelchair, she aimed to uncover more about his life. Upon reaching the produce section, she gently prodded him to share about himself, despite his initial reluctance. The disabled veteran revealed that he resided in Sod-Lincoln County and had recently lost his wife, a fact delivered with evident sorrow.
“I asked him if he was a veteran, to which he replied that he was,” she recalled, “but with pain on his face, so I changed the subject and asked if he had made a shopping list.” He handed her a concise list comprising only four items: peanut butter, soup, bread, and bananas. Undeterred, Morgan proceeded to collect the specified groceries while also inquiring about other necessities like milk, eggs, and butter. Little did she anticipate the forthcoming revelation.
Morgan recounted, “He told me that he might not make it home, without them going bad. So I questioned how he got to the store. He told me that he did what he was doing in the parking lot until he got to 119 and then hitchhiked with a trucker to the parking lot.” It became clear to Morgan what she had to do next.
“So I called a taxi for him and grabbed the essentials plus a few other things and put them in the cart,” she recounted. Unexpectedly, “After placing a gallon of milk in his cart he was crying. People were passing by us, looking sideways at him. I knelt down and asked him what was wrong and he replied, that I ‘was doing far too much for an old man that I barely knew.’”
“I told him that where I am from, and from the family I was raised in, we help one another, no matter the task and that I had never met a stranger. I also told him that he deserved everything I was doing for him because he fought for my freedom and sacrificed so much,” she affirmed, underscoring his deservingness for her assistance due to his sacrifices for her freedom.
Accompanied by the hero who safeguarded her freedoms, Morgan proceeded to the checkout line. Despite his protests, she insisted on paying for his groceries, a gesture of gratitude. Outside, they awaited the taxi together, never delving into personal details. His repeated thanks indicated a shift in his mood.
Upon the taxi’s arrival, Morgan assisted in loading the disabled veteran, his groceries, and his wheelchair. She handed the driver her only cash, $44, instructing him to ensure the veteran’s safe return home, including help into his house.
Expressing her gratitude for his service, Morgan bid farewell to the veteran as he departed in the taxi. In her Facebook post, she wrote: “I told him thank you for his service before closing the door. Tears formed again and he thanked me one last time and said, ‘God bless you.’ I returned to my car, and could not help but cry.”
“This is the world we live in today. How many people passed him and would have continued to pass him while he struggled?” she then asked rhetorically.
Her post concluded, “Today was a truly humbling experience for me, and I consider myself extremely blessed to have the capability of understanding what is truly important in this world. THAT man was a HERO, and far too many will say otherwise. I am sorry that this post was so long, and if you have read it to this point, I hope you are as humbled as I was. God bless the men and women who have fought for our right to view the wrong people as heroes, and thank God for the people who know better.”
