Nearly 1,000 Strangers Travel Miles To Honor Air Force Veteran They Have Never Met
Around 1,000 people attended the Monday funeral of 72-year-old Joseph Walker in Killeen, Texas, a man with no surviving family who had served in the Vietnam War, CBS News reported.
Walker was almost buried in a service attended by no one, but a call was put out by a state agency prior to the service that requested somebody, anybody, show up at the funeral service.
That call was heeded by plenty of patriotic Americans — so much so that there was a massive line of cars waiting to get into the cemetery for the service.
Killeen, Texas: A line of cars stretching for miles to attend the funeral of an Air Force Veteran with no family.. after fears he would be buried with no one attending. pic.twitter.com/IC5z7IlDjh
— Janet Shamlian (@JanetShamlian) January 28, 2019
One of the attendees, Marc George of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, told CBS, “Today we are not strangers. Today we are family. I don’t have a whole lot of information but it doesn’t matter because once upon a time like a lot of other vets, he signed a blank check for our nation.”
That group of bikers reportedly rode for over 50 miles to attend the service of a veteran they never met, and there was even a flyover by three planes during the service.
Walker was laid to rest with full military honors, including having an American flag draped over his casket and then carefully folded into a triangle for presentation.
Joseph Walker’s funeral was a special moment for Americahttps://t.co/ufl2pGS6ny pic.twitter.com/wNkp6XCK9b
— Jazz Shaw (@JazzShaw) January 29, 2019
As noted, word had initially been spread among the local community about the impending funeral of Walker, which would likely have been held with nobody in attendance.
However, the story was soon noted and shared online by Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who tweeted, “Air Force Veteran Joseph Walker will be laid to rest Monday, and no one is expected to attend. The cemetery said they do not know where his family is and they do not want him to be laid to rest alone, so they are asking the public to attend.”
Air Force Veteran Joseph Walker will be laid to rest Monday, and no one is expected to attend.
The cemetery said they do not know where his family is and they do not want him to be laid to rest alone, so they are asking the public to attend. https://t.co/ydf39wwrBn
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 26, 2019
In a subsequent tweet from Cruz, the senator shared the date, time and location of the service, which was also widely shared among his more than 3 million followers on the social media platform.
Those tweets from Cruz prompted a cascade of retweets and separate tweets from others about the funeral, which ultimately led to the large crowd of strangers showing up of their own accord to pay respects to the late veteran.
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