For this last mission, I decided to take it to the Holiday Inn just like I did with the second one. The general manager is a Veteran but he went home earlier than normal and I didn’t get a chance to ask him… As I was asking another manager if he knew of any other Veterans near by, an elderly man wearing a hat that read “Retired Navy” walked up to the restaurant.
He asked what the hours of operation were and I answered his question. I then said “Now I have a question for you, if that’s okay.” He nodded and I continued. “I noticed your hat and was wondering if you could help me out with my history assignment.”
As soon as I said the word “history” his face lit up. A cheery “Of course!” was what he responded with. I asked him to tell me five things that he hopes is being taught in my US college history class. He first started to tell me a little about himself- how he went to the University of Washington for five years and graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree and how he fought in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He told me how over all things were different back then.
After some more details, he got around to telling me the five things he hopes I’m learning:
1) That the politicians told the Generals what to do even though the Generals actually knew what they were doing. (* He spent a good time talking about this.)
2) The Vietnam War
3) The Korean War
4) General MacArthur
5) What the original Justice System was like
Right after saying those five subjects, he went straight into saying how horrible it is that technology has taken over.
He also gave me a breakdown on how school requirements should be.
- 75% Core classes
- 25% Electives
He concluded with “We should focus less on sports!”
I could tell he had so much more to say because he was so passionate about everything he said.
I feel like I definitely made his day!
