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EXTON, Pa. - An Army veteran who remembered getting free coffee and doughnuts from the Salvation Army decades ago gave a $10,000 check to a dumbfounded bell-ringer.

"The $10,000 is to help pay for my coffee and donuts," he said in a handwritten note signed, "P.F.C." "Seems fair to me after 40+ years, with inflation and everything."

The man gave the check to a volunteer outside a department store at the Exton Mall on Friday, 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 wanted to return the kindness, Morgan said. His name was on the check and he has given large amounts in the past, but he asked the Salvation Army not to identify him