Thomas Hunter, a war veteran army who served in the battlefield from the year 1942-1949, passed away at the age of 93.
He dedicated his life to protect the country during the D-Day invasion of World War II. By the end of 1949, he started living a normal life after serving in the army for years. Thomas never got married and had a family of 11 siblings. On September 12, 2017, he took his last breath and outlived his 11 siblings, none of his family members was left to carry his casket.
During his funeral, his nieces were not sure who they could ask to carry Mr. Thomas Hunter’s casket.
Fortunately, Bryan Price, the director, reached out to the local football coach, Lyn Bankston to ask for help. The football coach asked if any young men are ready to carry the casket of a war veteran.
He asked six students from Winnfield Sr. High School –Matthew Harrell, Brett Jurek, Justin Lawson, T.J. Homan, Christian Evans, and Lee Estay to serve as Hunter’s pallbearers.
The teens immediately agreed to help to know about Mr. Thomas Hunter’s story. After this generous act, the news made headlines and 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 young boys made their school and team very proud of their selfless act of kindness. They proved you need a good heart to help someone even if you don’t know the person.
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 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.”