Grateful vet leaves big drop in a bucket

An Army veteran who remembered getting free coffee and doughnuts from the Salvation Army decades ago has given a $10,000 check to a dumbfounded bell-ringer at the Exton Square mall in Chester County.

The man gave the check Friday to volunteer Don Stout, said Capt. Gerald Morgan, a spokesman for the Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia.

The man remembered being given coffee and doughnuts while serving in World War II and said he wanted to return the kindness, Morgan said.

The donor, who has given large amounts in the past, asked the Salvation Army not to identify him.

"The $10,000 is to help pay for my coffee and donuts," he wrote in a note signed "P.F.C."

"Seems fair to me after 40+ years, with inflation and everything," the note continued.

Morgan said he did not know where the man had served during World War II.