Server Spends Lunch Break with 91-Year-Old WWII Veteran

A server at a Pennsylvania restaurant shared a special moment with a World War II veteran during his lunch break on Sunday.

Lisa Meilander, a customer at the Eat’n Park diner in Belle Vernon, wrote in a Facebook post that she watched as Dylan Tetil, 24, dropped to one knee to take the order of an elderly man named Frank sitting at a table across from her.

“The man apologized for not hearing too well,” Meilander wrote. “He had forgotten to put in his hearing aids. He talked about how he lost his hearing during his time in the war. He was 91 years old with many stories to tell. Dylan patiently listened giving him his full attention.”

Once the veteran received his food, Tetil sat down across from the man and spent his break listening to him talk about his life.

“He was very interesting, very kind, very respectful. I listened to some of his stories. He talked about the war, some of the injuries he had, the places he’s been, his family,” Tetil recalled. “Tears were just running down his face. You can just tell this man hasn’t had a true, caring person to talk to in a long time.”

One of the pictures attached to the viral social media post shows the young man kneeling to take the veteran’s order. A second photo shows Tetil sitting across from the veteran, listening intently as he speaks to him.

“He was actually crying when he was talking to me, when he was talking about the war,” Tetil told reporters. “It just really hit a soft spot in my heart, honestly. I almost cried, and I’m not a crier.”

Meilander wrote that she overheard the man say “I’m alone now, and I don’t often have someone to talk to.”

She said she wanted to pay for the man’s meal, but Tetil told her someone else had already taken care of the bill.

“I guess we weren’t the only ones eavesdropping on the conversation,” Meilander wrote.

“With all of the negative stories about our youth today this was a breath of fresh air,” she concluded, adding that “As we left the restaurant the two of them were conversing and many people seated nearby were smiling. It was a touching sight.”