Teens Volunteer To Serve As Pallbearers For Veteran They Never Met

Former Navy petty officer, Jerry Wayne Peno passed away at 70 years old. He had no family or friends. Jerry was totally alone. His body was unclaimed for several weeks at Riemann Family Funeral Homes. Cathy Warden, a funeral home worker decided that something had to be done for the veteran. She explained the situation to her colleague, Eva Boomer and together they arranged for Jerry to have the proper send-off.

Eva, who is also a veteran, had the idea of contacting some boys at the local high school to see if they could serve as pallbearers. They thought the idea was a long shot because the students were out on winter break, but Cathy called her teenage son who then texted his friends. Within a matter of minutes, six young men from Long Beach High School had volunteered to give Jerry, a complete stranger, a proper send-off.

“It was the right thing to do,” 17-year-old Bailey Griffin told FoxNews. “He served our country. He fought for our rights. For him to be buried with nobody there was just sad. I told myself I was going to do it and I did it.”

At the funeral, the six young men were presented with the flag that had draped Jerry’s coffin. The flag is being encased in glass, along with a plaque that bears Jerry’s name. Source, FoxNews.  We hope you enjoy the video below.

Jerry may not have had family or friends to attend his funeral, but he had these 6 young men to give him the proper send-off.  Cathy Warden said it best, “It doesn’t cost anything to take some time to do something like this.  If our young people can figure this out, our country is going in the right direction.”  Share this on Facebook if you agree!