My name is John McCarthy and I am a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.
On Feb. 15 I took my girlfriend out to Carmen Anthony's on State Street in New Haven for a late Valentine's Day dinner and to celebrate the one-year anniversary of our relationship.
I am currently moving up to Connecticut, but my girlfriend is a student at Quinnipiac University, which is where we both met, and that is why we celebrated our special occasion in New Haven.
Waiting for the valet, a gentleman slightly older than me looked at me and said, "So you're a Marine?"
I was caught a little off guard at first. Normally my high and tight hair cut and military demeanor are a dead giveaway that I am in the service, but generally people cannot call out what branch I am a part of like that. I asked the man how he knew I was in the corps and he pointed to my car sitting on the curb with a big Eagle Globe and Anchor Sticker in the back window.
He immediately reached out his hand and said, "Thank you for your service." I humbly replied, "Thank you sir. Thank you for your support."
Just before he left I thanked him again for his support, and he for my service, and I told him to enjoy his meal. Our meal was wonderful and my girlfriend and I enjoyed our dinner together. She had waited inside and saw me talking to the man through the window and briefly asked me what we were discussing. I told her the whole story and she said how nice it all was. Then as dinner was ending we asked our waitress if she could bring our check and that we had a movie to go catch. She quickly walked away and we waited for her return.
Finally, out of nowhere that same man appeared at my side with an envelope. He placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "I hear you have a movie to catch." I replied somewhat amazed saying, "Yes. How did you know that?" Then he handed me the envelope and said enjoy your night and walked away.
Once I opened it and pulled out the envelope I guess my eyes bulged out a little bit. My girlfriend quickly said, "Well what is it?" I replied, "Its a gift certificate to this restaurant, for $150." Her eyes were now bulging the same as mine and her mouth was wide open in amazement.
I then looked over and saw that gentleman sitting across the room. I got up and walked over saying, "Sir, there is no way I can accept this." He told me I didn't have a choice. I asked if there was anything I could do like buy him a drink or maybe pick up his appetizer. He insisted that I had done enough. I thanked him once again.
My girlfriend and I finally went back and thanked him and his wife a third time before we left. Each time he thanked me and said, "thank you for all that you do."
We read about horrible things in the paper each day. So much so that it makes you wonder if good people like this still exist out there. Well I can tell you that they do based on this gentleman's act of kindness. Unfortunately because of the sheer shock I was in by the whole event I have forgotten his first name and his wife's first name. All I know is that they were in town for a wedding up here from Delaware. They chose to thank me that night.
I believe the best thank you I can give them is to tell this story so that people will be encouraged to engage in random acts of kindness like this in the future. Regardless of how big or small, they are important. More importantly, they do not just need to be acted upon towards those in the service but towards every human being.

John N. McCarthy
Oakhurst, N.J.