The Haters Said This 97 Year Old WWII Veteran Dances Better Than Me So I Had To Prove Them Wrong
Not gonna lie, he's got some pretty sweet moves.
The video was originally posted by Stars And Stripes Honor Flights that honors WWII, Korean, and Vietnam War veterans with life-changing trips to Washington, D.C. to visit their memorials and experience a day of thanks. Chuck Franzke, the dancer above, was part of one of their trips and has been popping up in their social media ever since.
And I have the utmost respect for him and don't want to seem brash, but when ZBT chirped at me in that Tweet about my dancing skills I couldn't just sit there and not stand up for myself. I'm a pathetic TikTokker now and won't be slandered. I put on a sweet little Icelandic groove by Daði Freyr Pétursson (long time Stoolie, Daði Freyr Pétursson, brick by brick) and got to work defending my cool throne.
When I posted it I was feeling smug. I thought maybe I had Chuck on the ropes.... until I stumbled across this one of him over the holidays... Not only did he used to be a pilot dropping torpedos on Japanese submarines in WWII, he's out here dropping canes like a hot mic. How can I compete with this?
So I went through my own rolodex and found the only other dance I've ever done in my life (besides the backwards running man when I'm hammered at weddings). Sorry Chuck. Had to do it to 'em.
Yep, looking below it seems like that settles it. He's asleep in his chair and…. Mother of Pearl…. the flashing nose, the sway…. I've been ambushed:
Alright. I surrender. The man simply can't be beat. Even in the midst of a pandemic he's out on his porch making his neighbors smile and flowing to Justin Timberlake. Meanwhile I'm in my apartment thrusting goofily in Target tights. There's no comparison.
Now that that's been settled, back to those Honor Flights. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole in the making of this blog and felt pretty moved so I'm sharin'.
There's non-profit groups around the country that facilitate these trips & they're incredible. I feel like our generation of veterans gets a lot of attention while those before us did not, and at this point the trip to D.C. to see their own war's memorials is often too difficult or expensive to do on their own. It's incredibly meaningful for veterans to gather with others who understand their rare, life-altering experiences, and to see a physical symbol linking them to the past, and to know that the sacrifice of their friends will not ever be forgotten. If you have time, tool around on YouTube & watch some of these journeys.
Side note, just wanted to point out what a great slogan the Stars And Stripes group has…
"Every day is a bonus."
It might not feel that way right now with everything going on but a pretty solid mantra to put in your head if you need a little boost.
The flights are on hold for obvious reasons but if you have the time & want to send some letters to veterans who will be making the trips (hopefully in the near future), here's the address:
Stars and Stripes Honor Flight
Attn: Generic Mail
PO Box 547
Pewaukee, WI 53072
And If you're looking for more to do and you're not an ace at dancing like Chuck and I, you can check out these ways to send cards to other folks in isolation: