Today while I was walking Cookie and Pippa with RJ, I met a man taking out his trash.

     “Good morning,” I said.

     “Good morning,” he replied.

     “Beautiful day,” RJ said.

     “Yes, it is,” he answered. The old man began walking down the driveway toward the street where we were standing with our son’s dogs.

     RJ paused. “This is Cookie and this is Pippa.”

     “Cute dogs.”

     “Thank you,” RJ replied.

     “You know, I’m 88 years old. I was wounded in Italy during World War II. I can only raise my arm this high.” He raised his arm straight out in front of him. “But I’m alive. I was wounded on January 8, 1944, 65 years ago on this very day. Can you believe it? Sixty-five years ago today.”

     “Wow!” I said softly.

     “I spent a lot of time in a lot of hospitals with his arm.”

     “My father was in the Polish army during the War,” RJ said.

     “My dad was in the army. He was awarded the Bronze Star. He drove a tank,” I added.

     “I was in the infantry and I’m Jewish. In fact my commanding officer said to me, ‘Cohen, you are not too smart being a Jew and in the infantry.” He tapped the side of this head as he spoke. “Maybe I wasn’t too smart, but I’m alive today.”

      “That’s great,” RJ said. “You have a nice day.”

      “I will,” he said as he turned and walked back up his driveway toward his back door.

      RJ and I walked back to our son’s house in silence. Sixty-five years. That’s a very long time and still Mr. Cohen remembers Italy and being wounded as though it was yesterday. Sixty-five years. So much time has passed and before long there will be no one left who served in World War II to tell the story of those men and women who went to fight in a foreign country to fight in a war that was to end all wars. How many wars have there been since that one? Too many, I’m afraid.

     I think I would like to sit and talk to Mr. Cohen again, to hear more about the war and what he did. What the battle was like near Rome, Italy, where he was wounded, when did he return home. So many questions. I think I would like to get to know him better. I bet I could learn a lot.