Memorial Day brings crowds to Washington, D.C., but not everyone is there for the same reason.

One soldier there in uniform just wanted to meet his sister, but a grieving mother’s request put a slight detour on his plans.

Read on for the full story!

Just because I have a uniform on doesn’t mean I work here…

In 1986, I was in Washington, D.C., during the Memorial Day remembrance as part of a color guard (7th SFG — I looked good).

After the ceremony, I had the rest of the day free.

He had plans to meet up with some family.

My sister was coming into town and wanted to meet me since I hadn’t seen her in many years.

I told her to meet me by the Three Servicemen Statue at around 2 PM. This was pre-cell phones, so you had to plan ahead.

The place was full of people visiting the nearby memorial wall. I was a little early, so I ambled over to the wall.

But then came an unexpected encounter.

An older woman grabbed me by the sleeve and asked where her son’s name was.

I didn’t really like being pawed at, but I asked for his name, the year he was killed, etc.

Since the names appear in order of death (he was killed in 1970), he was in the right-hand section.

She was pretty insistent that I get a stencil of his name.

Unfortunately, she chose a rather difficult day to do this.

Remember, this was Memorial Day, in D.C., at the wall — there was no way anybody was getting close to it without waiting for at least an hour.

I really felt for her.

She had sacrificed her son for our country, and she just wanted a stencil of his name.

I told her I was supposed to meet my sister and that I needed to go because I was already late.

She was crestfallen.

He wanted to help, but he also needed to move on with his day.

I explained that I was a tourist who just happened to be in the Army and in uniform — I wasn’t actually working there.

I felt bad for her situation, but I really wanted to see my sister (and her husband), whom I hadn’t seen in almost four years.

I did find them, and — surprise — she was pregnant. She wanted to surprise me, which is why she was so insistent we meet.

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While he wished he could have helped, he couldn’t have just stayed there all day and missed his sister’s exciting news.

What did Reddit make of all this?

While he couldn’t help the older woman, at least he didn’t just dismiss her.

This commenter remembers the site differently around that time.

Another commenter still remembers the scene even to this day.

Some connections are planned, while others happen when you least expect them.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.