This tale from the streets has a feel-good ending -- the best kind.
A 45-year-old armed services member rose far above the call of duty to help a World War II veteran twice his age.
Conservation Officer Larn Strawn felt a personal affinity with a World War II vet far from home.
(DNR photo via MLive)
Larn Strawn, a Department of Natural Resources conservation officer assigned to Belle Isle, fielded a call from visitors about a disoriented driver. Khalil AlHajal of MLive tells what happened that recent Sunday:
While patrolling the island, which became a state park in 2014, conservation officer Larn Strawn and a state trooper on Oct. 11 were dispatched to help an elderly man who seemed lost and distressed. . . .
The man told Strawn he had been driving all day after making a wrong turn on the way from his church to his house, which are both in suburban Chicago.
"The veteran drove all throughout the day and ultimately found Belle Isle after approximately 12 hours," the DNR reported.
The lawmen took the 90-year-old Illinois driver to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where "the veteran was admitted and treated for dehydration, provided a hot meal and clean clothes," AlHajal writes.
Strawn stayed with the man overnight and contacted relatives in Raleigh, N.C., who arranged to take him home the next day.
"After follow-up, CO Strawn confirmed the veteran made it home to Chicago safe and sound," the DNR reported.
A DNR Law Enforcement Division lieutenant, Lt. Andrew Turner, tells the reporter that as a reservist, Strawn felt "a personal connection with him."
"His shift ended and then he remained at the hospital on his own time." . . .
He said Strawn was willing to escort the veteran home himself while off-duty. Instead, he was able to reach a relative who immediately drove to Michigan."
Strawn lives in Weidman, a tiny Isabella County community 170 miles northwest of Detroit.
-- Alan Stamm
