Stranger Pays for Vietnam Veteran’s Meal at Michigan Chipotle – The Good News

Another heartwarming, anonymous act of paying it forward.

Thomas Bardziewicz was drafted into the Vietnam War on August 4th, 1969. His commanding officer told him and his fellow soldiers that, upon coming home, they should put on civilian clothes ASAP in case of a less-than-friendly homecoming at the airports.

Fast-forward 50 years and Thomas was at the Chipotle in Allen Park, Michigan. The gentleman in front of him in line thanked him for his service and walked away. Thomas then found out that the stranger had paid for his meal.

He posted a message on social media with the hopes of finding this kind stranger. It said:

Tonight While in line at Chipotle's in AP, My Wife and I were placing our order, when a young man came up to me, Put his hand on my shoulder, and thanked me for my military service. (I'm a U.S Army Vietnam Veteran). Which I said your very welcome. We went to pay at the register and the cashier said the guy who talked to you paid for your order. I turned around and he was gone, this really caught me by surprise. I tried to talk but, I was too choked up, this kind act, from a complete stranger to an old veteran like me, really tugged at my heart.
Some people don't realize that being a soldier during the Vietnam war was not a nice time. I was 21 when I came home after 16 months of deployment. Getting home from the west coast in uniform was not a good experience. We were spit at, called unthinkable names egged, among other things that no one should be subject to while serving their country.
I kinda edged back into civilian life and never brought it up for many years.
God bless this young man, he made an old soldier dealing with medical issues,some military related. Feel very good.
I don't know if I'll ever be able to pay his kind act, forward, but I'll try. I'll never forget
Godspeed
I want to thank everyone for all the kind words from so many. My intention wasn't about me, but about a kind person who went out of his way to acknowledge me.
In this day and age of social media, sometimes it's not very nice.
Again, I want to thank each and everyone from the bottom of my heart 💜 the response was way more than I expected, so many kind words and personal experiences everyone shared.
There's a lot of us Vietnam veterans still out there.
Some Gave All, and All gave Some 😢
God Bless 🙏🏻
Godspeed."