This story is inspired by an amazing picture of a parade, where a foursome of the Marine Corps honor guard can be seen marching by with the flag, and everyone is sitting down save a man in a wheelchair, supporting himself by the chair's armrests. The caption says, "The only person standing...is the man in a wheelchair." I think it's a fourth of july parade but that really doesn't matter and I was able to fix it for Veteran's Day. I've never been to such a parade (haven't really been to a parade in over a decade) but I hope this sounds reasonable and you can ge the main point.
*** The picture can (hopefully) be found at ..***
Marshall and Mary arrived at the Veteran's Day Parade after it had already begun. Their ten-year-old son Adam stood between them as they picked their way among the crowd in an effort to find a spot nearer to the curb. A group of seven men marched by in a line, each carrying a flag: The United States flag, the flag of New Mexico, the POW/MIA flag and the flags of the four branches of the military.
Adam suddenly stopped walking and his parents spun around to see why, their hands almost moving towards their hips for the guns that weren't there. They relaxed when they realized the boy was okay, just standing in the middle of the crowded sidewalk with a confused expression on his face. They stepped back over to him.
"Adam, what's wrong?" Marshall placed his hands on the boy's shoulders and bent over to look at his face. Mary stood behind them scanning the crowd, still wary of a possible threat.
Adam looked to his left and then his right before focusing on a spot just over his father's shoulder. His face became even more perplexed which only made Marshall more unsettled.
"Dad, why is the only person standing the one in the wheelchair?"
Mary looked at her son, now confused herself. Marshall tilted his head a bit in puzzlement before straightening up and turning around. Sure enough, just about every person in their vicinity was sitting on the sidewalk, wrapped snuggly in blankets and hats, miniature American flags sticking out from the folds of warm material that hands refused to leave. The weather was a bit nippier than normal for a New Mexican November day.
Then Marshall spotted the reason behind Adam's questioning: an elderly man wearing a leather jacket and a VFW hat stood in front of his wheelchair. His left hand hovered behind and below him, ready to make contact with the chair's armrest should his legs give way. His right hand bent upward, fingertips making contact with his brow in the still-perfected salute of a soldier.
Mary turned and saw it too, angered now by the fact that only this old man stood to honor his nation's flag. This man, who had obviously served his country when he was young now stood with difficulty to honor her when he was old. She could see from across the street when his legs began to shake a bit from the strain of standing.
With a few deliberately placed steps she moved to the curb and stepped over people to stand on the street. She began to clap as the flags and veterans walked by, joined quickly by her son and husband. The old man, sitting again once his legs became too weak, looked over and smiled, apparently pleased by their show of support. Soon others stood on their feet, some clapping, some not and before long the majority of parade-goers were standing as flags, trumpeters and veterans passed by.
When the parade was done and the crowd began to disperse Marshall leaned down and spoke into Adam's ear. "He was the only one standing because he was the only one who really remembered just how much freedom costs." He looked up to find Mary across the street, crouching next to the man in the wheelchair. Marshall and Adam joined her.
"Marshall, Adam, this is Derek Malone, formerly Corporal Derek Malone of the United States Marine Corps. He served our nation in World War II."
"Took a couple bullets for her, too." Mary locked eyes with Marshall. "I want to thank the three of you for your display there earlier. No one else was standing but you sure got them to their feet."
Marshall gave a bashful smile. "We wouldn't have gotten them up at all if it weren't for you. We probably wouldn't have even realized they were all sitting if you weren't up out of that chair."
"People should stand as their flag passes by, if not for any pride of their own, then in honor of those who died for it. That's what the red stripes stand for- the blood of those who died protecting their people."
The wind picked up as Adam asked for stories about the war and Marshall suggested they continue at a restaurant down the street. Derek agreed and spent the next couple of hours telling stories of the men he fought with, the ones that were injured, the nurses that patched them up, and the ones that died. When Derek's granddaughter arrived to pick him up he looked at his newfound friends.
"If I'm still around this time next year, let's stand together." Marshall shook his hand, Mary kissed him on the cheek and Adam saluted him.
"It's a deal."
Hope you liked this. I just had to write a story about that picture and chose to do it as an In Plain Sight story. I think it worked out well.
Little interesting fact: when coming up with a name for their son, Adam was the first to come to mind. It means "man" (sounds like the Hebrew word for "man"). So in a sense, Adam Mann is "Man Mann". I could just imagine a whole story involving Mary making jokes about her son's name being Man Mann!