Gratitude

So I'm sitting in a Mexican restaurant at LAX airport on Labor Day and a soldier in camo fatigues sits down at the table next to me. He is alone so we strike up a conversation and I find out that he's heading to his first deployment, in Hawaii. He seemed like a farm boy, not having been away from home much. We converse for a little bit. I find out he's from a small town just east of Boise, Idaho. After he finished eating, the waitress left the check with him and as he was opening his wallet I asked him if he could do me a favor. He says "I suppose." I ask him to give me his check. He hands it over, then gets up and shakes my hand. I said "I just want to thank you for your service." At that time a guy sitting at another table next to me reaches back and takes the check off my table and says "Actually, let me take care of that." I says to him, "Well, I'm not going to fight you for it." So the soldier steps over and shakes his hand too and asks where he is from. Sidney, Austrailia is the answer. The three of us chat for a moment and then the soldier heads off to where he is going. The man from Sidney and I talk for a little while longer. I told him I thought it was pretty cool that he took the check and paid the bill. He says "I couldn't let you pay that. We're the ones that owe you."