It is amazing the people you can meet in this job. Today I was able to walk around the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville as volunteers distributed valentines to patients in the hospital. While there we stopped in a waiting room where several veterans and their families were waiting to see a doctor. One man started talking to me and told me a brief story of his time serving in the Marine Corps.

Don Evans now lives in Siloam Springs, but served at the embassy in Moscow and was at the Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut when it was attacked in the early 80′s. He was on the roof and when the roof collapsed, he fell with it. He was trapped in the rubble for hours and hours until they were able to pull him out. Most people would use that as a pretty good reason to leave the service. Not Mr. Evans. He was later shot while serving in Operation Desert Storm.

Today was also his 12th wedding anniversiry and Mrs. Evans were there with him. They had known each other since grade school and moved to Northwest Arkansas after the devastation from Hurricane Katrina.  Despite all this Mr. Evans never stopped smiling while we chatted and was so pleased to see everyone and get a Valentine. The least I could say was thank you for your service.

Here are a few images from my time there. Nothing great, but I want to show people taking time out of their days to distribute valentines made by school children to the veterans.