Military men and women deserve all the respect from us for their brave service to protect us and the country. We make sure that they feel how grateful we are for the sacrifices that they did for us.

Wednesday, November 9th, something happened which proved the love that all Americans have for these brave soldiers.

Marine Corps Sgt. Leo Stokley was a war veteran and he passed away at the age of 69. Unlike the other senior citizens who have their families with them, taking care of all of their needs, this veteran was living all by himself. We have to admit, there are so many veterans that are left by their family members. But in this war veterans’ case, nobody knew if he has children or any other family members.

The funeral director did not expect a great number of people to attend his funeral. However, something amazing happened.

Two days before the service, the company’s phone never stopped ringing all day. There were so many people who were interested to attend the late war veterans’ funeral in order to honor him! According to the funeral director, Alan Desmond, “Yesterday morning, everything changed,” he told WKRN. He shared that their phone never stopped ringing, they received emails and texts too.

The Facebook group U.S. Army W.T.F. moments posted a special call for attendance, to make sure that this war hero was not alone. They want to ensure that he will be surrounded by people who respect his service for America.

On the day of the funeral, the Middle Tennessee Veterans Cemetery was full of people who came to pay respect and to say their final goodbye to this well-respected man who fought for our well-being. The three women who served as his caregivers during his last days also came. They were Tea Gray, Samantha Anderson, and Cay Cross. They shared that they loved Leo and treated him like family. They were also very happy that so many people attended his funeral. These women knew that Leo would have loved it to see these so many people who respected what he did.

Gray told WSMV, “He was one of our sweet eaters who always wanted chocolate chess pie.” Gray also said that Stokley was family. “He became our family.”

One of the Nashville residents named Kay-Lynn Carew, who was one of the people who attended that day said that he heard about Stokley’s funeral from his daughter and he felt that he needed to be there and honor the veteran. “She knows I live here, I work here. She said can you show up, I said heck yeah I can show up.” Carew also shared that when you hear about a veteran and no one seems interested to be there, you know that somebody’s gotta be there. Sometimes, people forget that there are lots of veterans who do not have families left.

“We’re all the family, we’re Americans, we’re the family.”

Even in his last days on earth, Marine Corps Sgt. Leo Stokley received the respect and the love that he truly deserved. He may not have been physically there to witness how many people showed up for his honor, but he is surely smiling up there in heaven.