Jim And August: A Friendship Forged Over Service And Loss
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Jim McDougal and August Riebe are friends. August is 10, and Jim is 98, and a World War II veteran.
August flagged Jim down when he was walking by his house one day.
"And then he looked me in the eye and he said, 'Thank you for your service, sir,'" Jim said.
Jim grew up Iowa, and enlisted when he was 18 years old, ending up a pilot in the war.
He was honored Sunday at a Memorial Day service, at which he also spoke. Helping in his presentation was August, who wore Jim's headgear, and displayed a model of the plane he used to pilot. This respect August has for veterans comes from his own father.
"My dad always wanted his children, me and my sister, to thank everybody who serves our country," August said.
His dad was a hockey player and a marathon runner. In 2015, when August was 4, his father passed away suddenly while playing in a pond hockey tournament.
August was quite young, but he still remembers Dad.
"He was very loving and caring, he's very enthusiastic and energetic like me," August said.
And on this Memorial Day, August knows that if his dad was here, with August's mom and sister, he would see in his son what he always hoped he would become.
"I think he'd be very proud of me, and I already know he is," August said.
"I think he is, too," Jim said. "He's very proud of you."