On Friday, Bradley Faulkner, a truck driver and U.S. Army veteran, pulled his rig over on Highway 70 outside St. Louis, exited his cab and placed his hand over his heart.
[Ads /]
The procession for Fred Ladage was headed to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.
Ladage's grandaughter, Kristen Collins, posted a photo of Faulkner with his hand on his chest on her Facebook page on Friday.
She wanted to find the man and thank him.
In the post, Collins said: "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!!"
Within 30 minutes, Collins discovered that she and Faulkner's wife shared a mutual friend and, later that night, she thanked him personally for his tribute.
Faulkner, who served nine years in the Army and did a stint in Iraq, said he noticed the Patriot Guard Riders and saluted the hearse as it passed.
[Ads /]
However, Faulkner said he would have paid his respects during any funeral procession. It's just something he learned while growing up in the South.
"Being a veteran didn't change anything about the situation," said Faulkner, who left the Army in February. "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."
He hopes that for just a moment, when the mourning family sees him standing there, it can give them a split second of comfort.
"You never know someone's situation," he said. "It doesn't hurt you to try to do what positive things you can."
Report a typo to the ABC13 staff