CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — Across the city, flags are flying high and hearts are full of gratitude. This Veterans Day, I'm showing you how a local restaurant is honoring our heroes.
At Bubba's 33, the words "thank you for your service" could be heard all day long.
The restaurant offered free entrees to all veterans who showed military ID, with the line stretching all the way to the freeway.
That's where I met Gary Pringle.
"How long were you in the army? Six years, five months, eleven days," Gary Pringle, Army Veteran, said.
Gary joined in 1967, a year he says he will never forget.
"We didn't have a choice. You had to sign up when you were 18. We were drafted," Pringle said.
He shared stories from Vietnam and got emotional thinking about his brother, who never made it home.
"When I hear the national anthem. It means something," Pringle said.
Danielle Molina works at the restaurant, which planned on serving food to more than 500 local heroes.
"Veterans have done so much for us," Danielle Molina, Bubba's 33, said.
Including Victor Sprunger, who remembers a time when coming home didn't always mean being welcomed.
"I was literally spit on. They didn't care for veterans back then during the Vietnam era," Victor Sprunger, Army Vet, said.
Sprunger joined the Army in 1971 and tells me about the sacrifice he and his family made. He says he's grateful for the community's support.
"People now appreciate what the veterans have done," Sprunger said.
Neighbors tell me it's heartwarming to see the community honoring those who've sacrificed so much for this country.
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