Thank a Veteran

[Crappie Xtreme]

Hey everyone I would like to say thanks to everyone on this site. I have been getting on Crappie.com for a long time but never thought about getting in here and reading this forum until a few weks ago. I have been reading all the good info and think it is great. I didn't know there were that many crappie fisherman out there.
I would like to take this time and tell a story that happened to me this week while I was crappie fishing. Me and two boys were fishing a few weeks ago in an area we fish a lot. We were catching a few fish but it was cold and the wind was blowing. We decided to leave, but before we did I told the boys I wanted to sink a tree where we were. There were several tree's cut down on the bank and just left there so I decided to utilize them the right way.
We were not alone that day in that area it is an area that is fished by several people. The other boat had an elderly man in it fishing by himself. He came up by me and my boys and began to speak to us. He asked how old they were and told me it was great that I had them out on the lake fishing. He told me he was 84 years young and that he used to take his kids fishing and missed it. He also told me that he lost his wife this last year and all he does is crappie fish.
While I was talking to him I began to get the tree and pull it out in the water to sink it. I got the tree where I wanted it and tied two large rocks to it and sank it.
When I got done the man came by and asked if I wanted the few fish that he caught. He had four fish and they were a bonus to the mess I had. After that I thanked him and left with my boys.
This is the first year that I have ever seen this man on the lake and almost every time I have went this year he is there.
It's been a little over a month since I sank that tree and every time I go to that area to fish that man is sitting on my tree fishing. I don't think anything about it. I have several other places to fish and there is a lot of old brush in the water just a few yards away from the tree I sank. Every time he is there he begins a conversation with me. We talk about fishing, of course and he asks me how my kids are doing if they are not with me.
I fish almost daily and three days ago I pulled up in that area to fish and he was sitting on that tree fishing. I asked if he was catching any fish and he stated he had just got there. He asked if I wanted to fish there because it was my tree. I told him to go ahead and fish and that I did not mind. I started fishing just a few yards away from him and began a conversation with him. He began to talk about the mud slide that had happened in the Philippines and asked me if I had heard about it. I told him that I seen it on the news and it didn't look good. He then told me when he was in the military in the 40's that was where he was in World War 2 and they liberated it.
He told me that he was at the doctors office one day and the doctor was from the Philippines and the area where the land slide was. He and the doctor began to talk about it and he told the doctor he was there during the war. He said the doctor stopped what he was doing and hugged him for his service and for what he did during the war.
After hearing this mans story, I realized that was not my fishing spot, it was his and he deserves to fish there every day. I thanked him and shared some of my crappie jigs with him.
My dad was Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne during the Vietnam war and came home safely and I am very patriotic and I fly the flag proudly.

I wanted to share my story with everyone because the men and women of the military do make a difference. If it were not for them we would not get to do what it is we love to do (crappie fish).
I want to take a moment and thank any veterans on this site that either served or are serving in peace time or war in any branch of the military.

Thanks
Scott.