Concluding the seven-part series by Richard F. Kontz on a Vietnam Vet he met while running the Bread of Life Christian Bookstore in 2011 through mid-2015.
After part six, I never wrote part seven until five years later. I guess it was too hard to finally write about what happened.
One morning as I was driving to work around 7 am in the morning, I saw Don walking up the street I was driving on so I pulled over and rolled down my window and said, “Hey Don what’s up?”
He came over and when I got a close look at him; he had fat lip and a black eye. One lens on his glasses was cracked. I asked him if he was okay. He said yeah, I am okay. I asked if he wanted to get something to eat and he said sure.
As he got in the truck he said, “I know I look bad.”
After we got to a local restaurant and got our order, Don ate very slowly because of his lip. He said it hurts to eat but I need to eat. Then he began to tell me what happened.
He said he was attacked a few days before by three teenagers. He said they were harassing him after he had gone to the bank to cash his disability check. He said they jumped him and beat him up and took his backpack, which had his wallet in it.
He looked at me with “sad eyes” and said, “In my younger days I would have took them all down. But, now look at me I can’t even defend myself anymore, I just don’t have it anymore.”
I said, “Don, don’t go there – you are still a man, a good man, a strong man of God.”
He said, “Thanks Rich, I know.”
I then said, “What are you going to do now?”
He said, “I have to get my Driver’s ID – that is where I was going. I decided I need to leave this place and I contacted a place in Louisiana that has a street program. I told them about my past working with street ministries and they said they could use me. So, I am going. I already have my bus ticket but I need an ‘ID.’ They told me I have to get there by next week.
He said, “I want to get to the Vehicle department early so I can be first in line.”
So, we finished eating and I told him I would drive him down there so he could be first in line.
On the way to the MVD, I asked him if he had any money. He said “No.”
When we got to the MVD, I gave him $40 [that’s all I had in my wallet]. As I dropped Don off he shook my hand and he looked me in the eye and said, “Thanks for everything Rich – you’re the best friend I ever had.”
Then he got out of the truck and headed into the building to get his “ID.”
I never saw Don again.
Now that I finally wrote the end of Ron’s story, it makes me very sad. I have to admit it made me cry. I hate what happened to him. Especially, seeing him like that – being beat up by three punks – feeling like he was no longer able to take care of himself.
But, I am happy he still had a plan – a plan to go work in street ministries somewhere else – another fresh start. I do wish I knew how it turned out. I guess I have been hoping all this time and waiting to hear from him. Maybe, just maybe one day out of the blue he will contact me. Then I can write the final “happy ending.”
Written by Richard F. Kontz. If you wish to comment, I can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
By Richard Kontz
