5-Year-Old Daughter of Fallen Soldier Gets Special Escort to Daddy-Daughter Dance
No young child should have to suffer the loss of a father, or parent in general.
Such a loss can shape a sense of grief that will sit with that child for years to come.
But when a parent is lost it can take the power of a community stepping up to help fill that gap. What is the old saying, “it takes a village?”
Cayleigh Hinton knows that village well. She recently lost her father, a veteran of Afghanistan and Kuwait, in a training accident.
With a daddy-daughter dance coming up, Cayleigh thought there was no chance she would be attending.
But that is when National Guard 1st Sgt. Joseph Bierbrodt stepped up to take Cayleigh to the dance.
But it wasn’t just Bierbrodt who stepped up. Firefighters, police officers, and other Patriot Guard members showed up to the dance to support Cayleigh.
These firefighters and police officers provided an escort to Our Lady of Humility School where Cayleigh attended the dance.
This village helped take what could have been a sad day and turned it into a celebration of Cayleigh’s father.
“This was a very special day, because we’re celebrating my dad,” Cayleigh said. “He was a very, very, very special dad to me, and he was a good soldier.”
Bierbrodt had never met Cayleigh before volunteering to be her escort.
As a father of four, he realized how much a gesture would mean to his own kids.
“I consider it a huge honor to be able to do this. We never forget the ones who have left, or leave their families unattended,” Bierbrodt said.
Cayleigh was able to keep the focus on the positive and celebrate her father with the help of her mother. She reminded Cayleigh her father wanted her to be happy.
“The whole night was magical,” Jillian Hinton, her mother, said.
“Her favorite parts were riding in the limo, getting her big dog and flowers, and dancing the whole night in her pretty dress.”
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