Veteran Walks Miles To See His Wife, Then Cop Stops Him

A police officer in Alabama saw an elderly man walking down the street, looking exhausted. When he rolled down his window and asked the man if everything was OK, he was shocked by what the man told him.

Charles Plitt,  a lieutenant for the Weaver Police Department, was driving his truck just before Memorial Day weekend when he spotted 70-year-old James Wright walking down the street. He pulled up to a stop sign and waited to the let Wright pass in front of him, but he motioned for the officer to roll down his window.

Plitt says that Wright, an Army veteran, told him he had recently had a stroke and that he was walking to see his wife, whom he called “the most beautiful woman in the world,” according to Fox News, at the nursing home where she lives.

The lieutenant offered to give Wright a ride to see his wife. He wrote a post about the experience on the Weaver Police Department:

Yesterday, while off-duty I was traveling back from Gadsden in my truck after purchasing a riding lawn mower from Lowes. I was pulling my utility trailer with the mower strapped down when I approached the East Broad St. / 431 intersection in Glencoe. I noticed an older gentleman (in his 80’s) walking southbound on 431 dressed nicely, but walking very slow and he appeared exhausted. An 18 wheeler flew by and the wind almost knocked him over. I was at a stop sign and he was about to walk in front of my truck so I waited to let him pass, but he stopped and looked up at me and raised his hand with one finger held up as if to tell me to “wait a minute”. I rolled my window down and asked him if he was o.k. and he looked up at me and said he couldnt go any further. He told me “I tried, but I just can’t make it….I cant walk no more”. I asked him what was wrong and he said he had recently had a stroke and he was trying to get to his wife who was in a nursing home, but couldnt walk that far. He didnt look like he was in distress, but he looked defeated. I asked him if he needed an ambulance and he said “No…Im o.k…..I just cant walk no more and I want to see my wife”. I asked him where she was and he informed me of the nursing home she was in, so I told him I would take him there. 

After he got in, I thought back to how many times I tell people to be cautious about picking up strangers and about being very careful about picking up hitchhikers and such – usually preaching about not doing it at all, but for some reason I knew this situation was different. As we pulled onto the highway I asked him his name and in his feeble voice he replied “James”. I introduced myself, and told him to relax and tell me where I needed to go to get to the nursing home where his wife was. He thanked me and pointed ahead and said “its just a few miles up there” and we continued on. During the ride I made small-talk with him and found out that he was walking from his home in East Gadsden because his car was broken down and he and his wife had not seen each other in over a week. His wife, he said had Dementia and had to be put in a nursing home, and she only knows and responds to him. He said they talked on the phone and wanted to be together today, so he figured he’d just walk since he had no other way. James also told me he was a veteran. He said he’d served 22 years in the U.S. Army and was retired. 

I thanked him for his service to our country, and as we drove along we began passing American flags and crosses placed in the median of 431 by the city of Glencoe for Memorial day. I’d always thought it was very nice and patriotic that the city of Glencoe did this, but until now it never hit me that this was more than just “nice” or “patriotic”. James began telling me about his time in the service and mentioned several wars he had fought in. He began to sob as he told me that “none of his friends made it back from the war”. All I could do is listen and try not to tear up myself. After he stopped talking I looked over and he was still crying. I patted his hand and I told him “well, I’m glad YOU made it back…and I’m sure your wife is glad too”. He smiled, his demeanor changed and he said “Yes she is….she sure is!”. As we pulled into the nursing home he wiped his tears away and shook my hand. He pointed to a window just in front of where we had parked and told me “you see that window with the shades pulled back? Thats my wife’s room. She’s gonna be so happy I’m here!”. To that, I told him “Tell your wife Lt. Plitt said hello”. He smiled, then thanked me again and with a burst of energy he hurried inside, not looking so feeble or defeated anymore.

I pulled away and continued home, but I thought about this encounter with James the whole way back. The purpose of sharing this is NOT for praise. The purpose of sharing this is to hopefully remind folks of what this upcoming Memorial day weekend is all about. Yes, I helped someone out in a time of need, but I was able to help James out because he, like so many other men and women in this country fought to protect my freedom and liberty. Because of James and all other U.S. veterans, some of which gave the ultimate sacrifice, I am able to drive around and purchase material stuff and live in the greatest country in the world. “Material stuff” like that shiny new riding mower on the trailer I was towing that James would have gladly used instead of walking! He deserved a LIMOUSINE! In my humble opinion…..Memorial day is not a “holiday” by the standards or definition that society places on a holiday. Memorial day is a day of remembrance. It’s a day we honor and pay tribute to the many brave men and women who have fallen. 

According to InspireMore, after the story was shared on social media, members of the local community started a fundraising effort to pay for Wright’s truck to be fixed. Until then, Wright says that he will continue walking to see his wife whenever he can.

Sources: Weaver Police Department/Facebook, Fox News, InspireMore / Photo credit: Pixabay