Retired Army veteran gives back with random act of kindness
BETHALTO - Mrs. Hall’s 5th grade class at Meadowbrook Primary School collected many items to send to deployed service members in support of Project Frontline.
After shopping and gathering donations from the class, Monica and Andrew Hammarstedt packaged it all up and headed to the post office in Bethalto, only to find out it would cost over $100 to ship the two boxes overseas.
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“I immediately started to panic about the amount because I didn’t have an extra $100+ to ship these boxes,” Hammarstedt stated on Facebook.
Luckily, the clerk working that day was Christian Moore, a retired Army veteran who spent 24 years of his life serving our country.
“This is when this hero told us he was a veteran himself and he would pay for one of the boxes to be shipped because he knew how much they needed the donations and how much they meant to the soldiers,” said Hammarstedt.
“I’ll do one if you do one,” Moore said to Hammarstedt with a smile.
“He pulled out his wallet and did just that,” said Hammarstedt.
Moore says that he helped Hammarstedt pay for the shipping because he has been there before himself and he knows how rough deployment can be. Moore spent much time Iraq on multiple tours between 2003 and 2006.
“We didn’t have anything,” said Moore. “I don’t mind doing something like that for soldiers. I’m a soldier and I know how hard it is over there and not having anything.”
“I was crying tears of joy,” said Hammarstedt. “We couldn’t believe how kind and generous Christian was. It was so heartwarming!”
Hammarstedt, overwhelmed with Moore’s graciousness, immediately shared her experience on Facebook.
“From the feedback that I’ve seen from Facebook, this is not out of character,” said Hammarstedt. “Everyone has spoken very highly of him and what a great person he is.”
Since then, her status has gone viral.
“When I checked my Facebook this morning, there were over 19,000 shares,” said Hammarstedt. “I think everyone agrees we need more people like Christian!”
Moore has served his country on a very large scale, risking his own life. Now, Moore’s honorable character is still making a difference today.
“Thank you Christian for your service and your gratitude,” said Hammarstedt. “You sir make me proud to be an American and I can’t thank you enough.”
