I was out of my favorite electrolyte drink mix, so I made a Target run for some more. I found the aisle and grabbed a box of what I needed and turned to the self-checkout scanner aisle. As I scanned my item and then paid and was waiting for the receipt to print out, a man came up to me and extended his hand.

“Thank you for your service, sir,” he said.

I could tell right away he was prior service.

“Thank you, sir,” I replied.

“I did 33 years, myself,” he said.

A conversation ensued. He had served 33 years, most of it in the special operations community. He filled me in on some of his years at Bragg, at Benning, and other locations.

He retired as a Command Sergeant Major (CSM).

He saw the cross on my uniform and said, “Can I tell you one more story?”

“Of course, sir,” I said. People in Target were now interested in our conversation, and were looking our way and listening to him speak.

“Whenever we prepped to roll out, our chaplain would come pray Psalm 91 over our guys. Every time. Then I would go to our guys and say, ‘I’m a Christian, boys; but listen to what the Chaplain said. We’ve trained you, but may God equip you.'”

He stuck his hand out again and said, “Appreciate you, Chaplain.”

“Thank you, Command Sergeant Major,” I said.

And we both understood.