Once a Marine

I loved this short, but true, story:

A teenager learned it is not a good idea to try to rob a former U.S. Marine at knifepoint, no matter how old he is.

Santa Rosa police Sgt. Steve Bair said an 84-year-old man was walking on Fourth Street with a grocery bag in each arm when the boy approached him with a large knife at about 2 p.m. Wednesday.

“Old man, give me your wallet or I’ll cut you,” the boy said.

The man said he was a former Marine who fought in three wars and had been threatened with knives and bayonets before.

The 84-year-old put his bags on the ground and told the boy that if he stepped closer he would be sorry. When the boy stepped closer, the man kicked him in the groin, knocking the youth to the sidewalk.

The ex-Marine picked up his grocery bags and walked home, leaving the teen doubled over.

Can’t you just see it in your mind — some weeny little punk approaching an apparently frail little old man, only to be completely destroyed?