Santa Claus goes down on knees in busy shopping mall to salute a World War II veteran

Washington, Dec 13: It was a touching moment for all present on the occasion. A man in the guise of Santa Claus was walking around in a shopping mall in Wilmington, Delaware, to rev up the Christmas mood when he spotted a 93-year-old man named Bob Smiley and went to him and sat on his knees to greet him.

The nonagenarian turned out to be a Second World War veteran and Father Christman couldn't stop himself from acknowledging the elderly man for his service to the nation. The picture of Santa Claus bowing before the war veteran won hearts all across.

One Gina Wilbur who was looking forward to take a picture with Santa and saw the latter stopping by Smiley later posted the photo of the two men on social media. "I hear Santa telling the gentleman, in a soft voice, of others he knew who served," Wilbur wrote in the caption.

Santa and Smiley, who served under the famous World War II General George Patton, were reunited on Good Day Philadelphia, and the former revealed there the reason for him taking a knee for the latter.

"We owe a debt of gratitude to men like this that have made such a life-changing decision to give up themselves, be willing to lay down their life even, for other people," FOX 29 quoted him as saying. Smiley, on the other hand, said it was his duty.