When a veteran passes away, it is required by law (Public Law 106-65) that they receive a military funeral honors ceremony. However, not every veteran is able to receive this honor.
When Thomas Hunter, a WWII veteran, passed away on September 12, 2017, at the age of 93, he deserved this rite of passage.
However, his funeral planners hit a snafu. Thomas did not have any children and he’d already outlived his parents, siblings, and most of his family members. He was not married, so there was no one to carry his casket.
That is when a high school football team stepped up to help out in order to honor Thomas and the legacy he left behind.
Six students from Winnfield Sr. High School –Matthew Harrell, Brett Jurek, Justin Lawson, T.J. Homan, Christian Evans, and Lee Estay – volunteered to serve as Hunter’s pallbearers.
After the fact, the generous act by the high schoolers made national news. Days after the funeral, Congressman Ralph Abraham delivered a speech on the House floor. He said:
“I am so inspired by the actions of Matthew, Brett, Justin, TJ, Christian, and Lee, as well as others in the community who gave Mr. Hunter the hero’s send-off he deserved. They didn’t know this man, but they knew that every veteran deserves to die with dignity and be honored for the sacrifices he made in defense of this nation.”
The six young men proved that you do not need to know someone in order to show them respect and honor. They truly made their school and team very proud with their kindness.
The funeral home that provided the veteran’s casket also shared the story with the popular social media page, Love What Matters. They wrote on Facebook:
“Thomas Edward Hunter, a World War II Veteran, who served our great nation at D-Day, passed away at the age of 93 on September 12, 2017. His only survivors were nieces and a nephews. With no one to serve as pallbearers six young men from the Tiger Football Team at Winnfield Sr. High School graciously volunteered to serve as pallbearers. These are FIRST CLASS young men and are to be highly commended for serving in this capacity.
(Justin Lawson, Brett Jurek, Matthew Harrell, Lee Estay, T. J. Homan, and Christian Evans.) Thank you to the School Administration as well as the Football Coaching Staff for making this possible as well as to the parents of these young men for instilling them with such good values. There were also members of the Patriot Guard present to escort Mr. Hunter to his place of disposition. Military Honors were conducted at the Cemetery by U.S. Army.”
Can you believe these teens did something so thoughtless and respectful? I wish there were more teenagers like them!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family on Facebook today.
You can see more about what these teens did in the video below:
