IN MY SHOES: Heart Attack, Stroke Could Not Keep This Vet Away From Rolling Thunder Rally
This Washington Post article spotlights elderly, infirm vets whose grit and determination could not keep them from giving their brothers in arms a shout out by taking part in the annual Rolling Thunder tribute in Washington, DC:
Shortly after noon yesterday, Paul Stancliff, 65, with his bad heart, gimpy arm and bum right leg, anchored himself and his tall, homemade flagpole at the east end of the Memorial Bridge near the mammoth bronze statues of Valor and Sacrifice. …
And Stancliff, despite the stroke he had last year and the heart attack he had six years before that, was determined to greet them first: a grizzled sentinel in an old Navy ball cap, his American flag and POW-MIA standard whipping from the flagpole in the wind off the river. …
Back at the bridge, Stancliff, of Mercersburg, Pa., stood unsteadily in the hot sun, clutching his flagpole as the legions of motorcycles passed.
The bikers saluted his flags, gave him thumbs up, flashed him the two-fingered peace sign, honked their horns. A woman tossed him a small bouquet of white daisies that landed near his feet. Stancliff, a Navy veteran, waved and saluted back, and looked pleased.
Editorial Note: The Stiletto wasn’t there, but she is pretty sure it wasn’t a peace sign that the bikers flashed Stancliff, but a victory sign. The two “V” signs look identical, and it is to be expected that a liberal reporter would misinterpret the intent of a veteran who survived his tour(s) of duty flashing the “V” at another who did, too.
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