PART 2 I called 911 from the doorway of Unit 118. “Three elderly people living in storage units at Lakeside Self Storage on Peach Street. One of them is barely conscious. I need ambulances. More than one.” The old man’s name was Augie Novotny. He was 91. A Korean War veteran. His hands were like ice. He kept trying to sit up and salute when he saw my Coast Guard jacket.

Halfway through the parade, a little boy on the sidewalk saluted him.

Augie saluted back. His hand was shaking. He was crying.

He looked up at me and said, “Son, two months ago I thought I was going to die in a box.”

“Not on my watch, sir,” I said.

THE END.

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Check on the elderly people in your life. In person. Not through someone else. Sometimes the ones who served us the longest are the ones we forget the fastest.

What would you have done to Tammy if you were Ezra? Tell us in the replies.