Neighbor stories

The Hero Nextdoor: World War II Veteran Shares War Stories with Raleigh Neighbors

Written by ndmulti

When a Raleigh resident realized her father, a World War II Veteran, had no one to socialize with she turned to her neighbors and the Nextdoor app for help.

A year after Candy Baskett’s parents moved in with her due her mother’s medical emergency, she noticed that her father’s usual network of friends were no longer within reach.

At his previous home, “he had three gentlemen he’d go have coffee with every morning,” Candy said about her father, World War II Veteran Clyde Garner. Without the daily chats over coffee, she worried that her father would become isolated.

Then, an idea struck her: why not ask the people right next door? Baskett took to Nextdoor to see if neighbors would be interested in meeting with Clyde, chatting with him, and hearing stories of his heroism.

“I thought, well, somebody might want to hear some war stories, because Dad likes to tell them,” Baskett said.

Soon after posting to her neighborhood’s Nextdoor website, neighbors came knocking.

“I got a lot of responses from people wanting to come over,” Baskett said. Soon enough, a group of neighbors formed and planned to join Clyde for some storytelling.

Clyde shared that he was only a 19 year-old farm boy from Moore County, North Carolina, when his tank rolled into France after D-Day. He later fought in the Battle of the Bulge and even defended his guard post from a Nazi attack.

“I lost a lot of my buddies,” he said. “I never thought about coming home, just trying to survive.”

Garner was grateful for the opportunity to share his experiences in World War II with his neighbors, who were in awe of his service. Now, he’ll certainly have new folks to share a cup of coffee with in the morning.

For the full interview, see below.


As reported by WRAL.com

Join your neighborhood on Nextdoor here.

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