Blake Hall
At your standard sports bar, 30 hungry National Guardsmen can easily wrack up quite a large bill by the end of lunchtime. When a group Guardsmen attempted to settle up at such a restaurant, they were surprised to find that the bill had already been paid by an anonymous diner.
After training at Belmont Armory last Wednesday, a large group of National Guard soldiers headed to the Corner Bar in Rockford, Michigan to get some post-training grub. It was the middle of the lunch rush, but John Vanaman, general manager of the Corner Bar, said the establishment did what it could to accommodate the large group and provide military discounts.
When the troops prepared to leave, another diner offered to pay their bill in full.
“The patron said he wanted to cover the entire bill for the troops,” Vanaman said. “We asked him a couple of times to make sure, and he intended to cover more than what it ended up being.”
The bill’s total was $179.92. The patron paid $200, along with a 25 percent tip.
National Guardsmen from Belmont Armory told ABC News that they were pleasantly surprised by this generosity.
Lieutenant Colonel William Humes, spokesman for the Michigan National Guard, told ABC News that it’s always very “gratifying” and “humbling” when a stranger pays the tab for servicemen and women.
“It shows that we’re still appreciated,” he said, adding, he’s “nothing but grateful.”