Veterans are men and women who have put their lives on the line for their country by serving in the U.S. military. Sadly, when they return home after risking their lives for the rest of us, they often do not get the respect that they deserve. Thankfully, this is a story about an entire community paying respect to a veteran after finding he passed away.

Earlier this month, Marine Corps Sgt. Leo Stokley passed away at the age of 69. He left no immediate survivors, so nobody came forward to claim his body after his death. Because of this, the funeral director was not expecting many people to come to Stokley’s funeral in Nashville, Tennessee.

However, the funeral director ended up being dead wrong!

Two days before the funeral, the funeral home’s phones were ringing off the hook with people asking if they could attend Stokley’s funeral. A Facebook group called U.S. Army W.T.F! had taken to social media to post about Stokley’s funeral, and their post quickly went viral.

“WTF Nation, we have an unclaimed veteran being buried with no family. Leo Stokley, 69, of Murfreesboro, TN passed away on Sunday, November 4, 2018, at the Waters of Cheatham in Ashland City,” the group wrote. “Leo served his country in the United States Marine Corps and did a tour of duty in Vietnam. Leo will be buried with Military Honors on Friday, November 9, 2018, at the Middle Tennessee Veteran’s Cemetery in Nashville, TN at 10:00am. Please support so he is not buried alone.”

“Yesterday morning, everything changed,” said Funeral Director Alan Desmond. “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing, the emails and the texts haven’t stopped since then.”

When the day of the funeral came around, Middle Tennessee Veterans Cemetery was packed with people paying their respects to Stokley!

Nashville resident Kay-Lynn Carew, who attended the funeral, explained that he heard about it from his daughter.

“She knows I live here, I work here,” said Carew. “She said can you show up, I said heck yeah I can show up. When you hear about a veteran, and nobody’s gonna be there, somebody’s gotta be there. Lots of people forget, there’s a lot of veterans that don’t have any families left. We’re all the family, we’re Americans, we’re the family.”

We’re so glad that this veteran got the funeral that he deserved. Thank you for your service and may you rest in peace Leo Stokley!