A veteran was driving one morning when a police officer pulled him over. What happened next shocked him.
According to Newsner, William Jazwinski was driving when he saw a police car pull up behind him and flash its lights for him to pull over.
The veteran was concerned that he might have been speeding, but said he wasn’t exactly sure.
As the officer approached his vehicle, Jazwinski said: “Good morning officer. Was I speeding?”
The officer replied: “No, not speeding. Just wanted to stop you and say thank you for your service.”
Touched, Jazwinski thanked the officer. He told him that he had served 15 months in Iraq.
Then, the officer revealed something surprising — his own son had died while serving in Iraq.
“Man, I’m sorry,” Jazwinski said, telling the officer that he had just completed a PTSD program.
The officer then noticed that Jazwinski had a flag on the dashboard of his truck that matched the one he received after his son passed away, and proceeded to make an unusual request of Jazwinski.
“Do you mind stepping out and receiving a hug?” the officer asked, according to Jazwinski. “You remind me of my son. I pulled you over. I thought you were him. I still don’t believe it most days he’s gone.”
Jazwinski got out of his truck without hesitation and gave the officer a hug.
“With tears in both our eyes I got out and hugged that man,” Jazwinski wrote in a post on his Facebook page. “I’m talking about for a minute or two crying. Down to our knees crying. I needed that.”
He added: “To all the family and friends of soldiers, fighting or done fighting, God bless you. Your peace and your hearts. Its so hard without them, I know. This road is a tremendous one. Love to all.”
Readers shared their thoughts on the touching story on the MommyPage Facebook site.
“This one brought tears to my eyes!!” one reader commented. “A father lost a son and finds comfort with a young man with PTSD right out treatment!! Great story guys. Hope you two stay in touch!!”
“God Bless you sir and thank you for your service glad you made it home safe, so sorry you suffer from PTSD,” another user wrote. “We love you and are so proud of you for serving our country.”
“Thank you for your service and thank you for what you did for that policeman it was an awesome thing that you did for him when he lost something so precious for himself,” another reader added.