The driver of a semi-truck has been spotted pulling over on the highway and getting out of his vehicle to salute a fallen soldier. U.S. Army Vet Bradley Faulkner pulled over onto the shoulder of I-70, got out of the cab and placed his hand over his heart as a fellow veteran’s funeral procession passed.
The WWII veteran’s granddaughter managed to capture a photo of Faulkner standing to attention as the cars pass; the image has since gone viral.
“While in the funeral procession today to Jefferson Barracks to lay my grandfather to rest a man driving a truck pulled off and made honor as we all proceeded. Thank you for showing such great honor – I found and got to personally thank this man!!” Kristen Collins wrote as the caption to the photo.
Kristen also detailed that she had made contact with Faulkner after his wife alerted him to the photo being shared online, as reported by 13 WMAZ.
Fred Ladage was laid to rest aged 91 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. Ladage was married for 61 years and served in the Navy and Navy Reserves in WWII.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211414099090600&set=a.1416950026194.2056521.1305900321&type=3&theater
Faulkner said that it doesn’t matter where he is at or what he is doing, he was always taught to pay his respects to our war veterans.
“Being a veteran didn’t change anything about the situation,” said Faulkner, who left the Army in February, as reported by ABC. “If I had known it was a funeral for anybody, I would have stopped and done that. … I’m born and raised in Tennessee. Down there that’s just what they do. Anytime you see a funeral coming down the road, you stop your vehicle.”
“It doesn’t change or alter your life at all to maybe lift up that one family and say, ‘Hey, in your time of need, I’m here for you whether I know you or not,'” he added.
Faulkner hoped that his moment of respect gave the grieving family a moment of comfort.
“You never know someone’s situation,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt you to try to do what positive things you can.”
Well, it certainly appears that the gesture of respect and honor from one military man to another had a profound impact on the family.
“For that moment, everything about my grandfather about his legacy and life was important,” Collins, of St. Peters, Mo., told KSDK in St. Louis. “And people were stopping to honor that.”