When Derek Schwendeman posted a picture of his grandpa on Reddit, he had no idea of the stir it would cause.
Now, millions of views later, his grandpa’s photo has gone viral and has people on Reddit commenting on how handsome he is.
The photo of a soldier goes viral
The photo is simple enough, a black and white photo of a young man in military uniform.
The man is 86-year-old Thomas who had the photo taken as he prepared to leave for a deployment in Korea.
What catches peoples’ eyes the most is Thomas’ bright smile and rugged good looks.
After it was posted, the picture quickly went viral, getting over three million views and more than a few appreciative comments, some even going so far as to call him “Hot Grandpa.”
As for Schwendeman’s grandfather, he is amazed by how excited everyone is getting over his photo, which was taken in 1952.
Derek Schwendeman’s ‘Hot Grandpa’
Schwendeman’s grandmother Fleecie has gotten the biggest kick out of Thomas’ whole Internet notoriety.
My grandmother says since they married young, he didn’t have much of a chance to ‘sow his wild oats.’
She told me that he has ‘women fussing over him all of the time, but she got him first.’ ” Schwendeman told People.
Thomas and Fleecie get married
Now living in Pennsylvania, the couple started their life together with an engagement right as Thomas was leaving for basic training in 1951.
The couple ended up getting married later that same year after Thomas finished his training.
It was while living in an apartment in Texas that Thomas got his orders to deploy to Korea.
After returning from his deployment, which lasted a year, Thomas got a job working for the Bell Telephone Company.
After 30 years, Thomas retired and became a bus driver before retiring completely in the mid-90s.
“My grandfather is, and always was, a very hard-working man, and he passed that work ethic onto both my father and me,” Schwendeman stated.
Married for over 65 years, the couple has seen a lot, and his grandfather is a very devoted person when it comes to life and his marriage.
This sense of devotion has been passed on to their grandchildren, who all live close by and make sure to visit often.
Thomas wouldn’t change a thing about his life.
Schwendeman recalls how his grandmother asked Thomas if he would have lived his life any differently, knowing that so many people found him attractive.
Of course, his answer was a no.
“He was always loyal and has taken very good care of me,” Fleecie told her grandson.