Al Littman, a Vietnam vet cap resting proudly atop his head, sat down with his wife this past Saturday for breakfast at Stacks, a restaurant in Waxhaw, North Carolina.

It was a routine the couple had stuck to for some time, and it always came directly after their other weekend ritual: trucking to a nearby Publix (grocery store), picking up their unused bread, then driving 20 minutes to drop it off at a volunteer-powered food pantry.

But when they took the last bite, last sip, and waited for the check this most recent particular outing … nothing.

The check. It never came.

In its stead, a message.

“The waitress came and said our bill was taken care of,” said Littman.

“The person said that they paid for our meal because I’m a veteran.”

And, calling the good Samaritan “the person” was as specific a descriptor as they could muster. The selfless patron with the gracious wallet said they wanted to remain anonymous.

Al and his wife, however, have a different plan for the ending to this story. They were so touched by the gesture, they want “the person” to be identified, and celebrated.

“It was just such a wonderful feeling that we had that someone did that for us, and we both walked out of that restaurant and said the next time we go out we gotta do the same thing. We gotta pay it forward.”