Letters to the Editor: Marine salutes restaurant for its kindness, patriotism on Memorial Day

Amid all the division, animosity and violence that seems to permeate this country now, this is a short story that must be told. On Memorial Day, my wife and I decided to have breakfast, for only the second time, at a small diner in San Fernando called Heavenly Pancakes.

As a U.S Marine, and in deference to my service brothers and sisters, I was wearing a USMC T-shirt and a USMC veteran cap. We drove to the restaurant, waited for about 20 minutes, were seated and had a substantial breakfast.

When the bill arrived, the server told us that, because we were both seniors, we would receive a 10% discount, for which we were both grateful. My wife put her credit card out to pay the check and the server retrieved it. Almost immediately, the credit card was returned by the “manager” and we were told that we would not be charged anything for the meal and “thank you for your service.”

We were not only surprised, but were also very moved to know that, in small town America, kindness, respect and patriotism still exist. Thank you Heavenly Pancakes. We will be back.

Lawrence R. Van Avery

Glendale