LELAND, North Carolina — Marine veteran Charles Stewart sat on the bumper of his car in a Waffle House parking lot directly in the path of…
LELAND, North Carolina — Marine veteran Charles Stewart sat on the bumper of his car in a Waffle House parking lot directly in the path of Hurricane Florence.
Wearing loose-fitting jeans, a turquoise T-shirt and brown Rockwell shoes, he sipped coffee and smoked a Camel cigarette as Hurricane Florence loomed off the North Carolina coast.
Stewart, 75, who served in the Corps from 1962 to 1974, more than a year of which was in Vietnam, said he wasn’t concerned about riding out the storm — much like the Corps he once served .
« If I decide it’s unsafe, I’ll get in the car, » Stewart said with a smile, patting the bumper of his silver Cadillac. « If it flips over, I’ll get in the truck. »
Despite his nonchalance, he also seemed prepared.
Stewart said he had plenty of non-perisable food, first aid kits in each vehicle, a generator, and more. « I got all kinds of stuff. »
A large broadshouldered man wearing a San Francisco 49ers hat suddenly came around the corner heading towards the Waffle House door before he noticed Stewart.
« Hey, Chuck, » Carl Foskey said.
Foskey, 66, who also served in the Corps, said he wasn’t nervous and planned to ride out the storm as well.
« I’m just gonna take care of my wife, » he said. « She’s totally disabled and I take care of her… I’m just gonna turn the TV on and watch a movie or something. »
« Until the power goes out, » Stewart interjected, with a laugh.
But Foskey seemed to be in a safer position then Stewart since he has a « hurricane built » house that’s « only six years old. »
Foskey, who served in Vietnam and the Gulf War, said he was an E-7 in the Corps when he got out in 1993.
« Yeah, he outranked me — he told me what to do, » Stewart said, who was an E-5, as they both laughed.
An E-5 is « what they call a Buck Sergeant, » Stewart said. « I called it ‘going down, and coming up.' »
The two men discussed some of their experiences in Vietnam, but they didn’t want to go too deep.
« It’s hard for anybody to understand what you go through unless you been through it, » Stewart said. « That’s why me and him can talk about it because — »
« We been through it, » Foskey added.
Stewart said he was mostly in Da Nang in Vietnam, and did funeral detail for two years after returning.
« I just come out from over there and come back here [to do] burial, » Stewart said. « And that’ll warp your mind. »
« Yeah, it will, » Foskey agreed.
Besides his service, Stewart said he’s survived cancer twice, among other health problems, which made it easier to understand why he wasn’t too concerned about the impending storm.
« It’s just water, » Stewart said when discussing having to possibly go to his car or truck during the storm. « I might grab a bar of soap. »
