A Forgotten Hero

I met Clifton through social media, to rescue a dog he was not able to handle.
A five-month-old puppy, and a 92-year-old gentleman. Clearly, each had a different level of energy, and a different set of priorities.

We walked through his small, cluttered home, with pictures and artifacts of an era gone by. The kitchen was strewn with cans of food, the counter tops with papers. Stashes of stuff everywhere. Clifton lives alone. Lost a daughter who was a paraplegic, and his wife to an illness four years ago. He has one son who lives in Texas, who rarely visits.

Clifton retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force, after 30-years of service to this great country. Clifton was a proud man, who stood tall and spoke in measure tones. He flew B-52 bombers in India and Burma and fought in WW II and the Korean War.  A painted portrait of him in Uniform showed a handsome man, who had since withered with age.

I sensed a loneliness to his proud life. Is that what life amounts to in the end? A forgotten hero, living alone, with no one to take care of him? In a way it was sad, and tragic. Once the glory days are past, the isolation takes over at a time when people need care the most. Is this how we really take care of our officers in uniform?

I plan to visit Clifton for an interview for these pages and take him to lunch.
“Come anytime you want”, he said with a rye smile, expecting to never see me again. “I don’t really have a busy calendar”.