Catholic High School Holds Funeral For Homeless Veteran With No Friends Or Family

You guys know how I feel about vets.

I can’t read (or write) a story about old vets without crying….

and it seems like there’s been plenty of them in the news lately, both good and bad.

I told you about the WWII vet who screamed in pain as he died… and nurses laughed.  I also told you about the Marine who stood guard at his life-long friend’s wake.

One is devastating… one is beautiful….

There’s good and bad in the world…. this story has a little bit of both.

According to this:

High school students held a funeral for a homeless veteran because he had no living friends or relatives left.
Students at Catholic Memorial High School honored John T. Fitzmaurice on Wednesday in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, after he recently passed away on the streets of Boston.

Fitzmaurice was buried Wednesday with full military honors, according to CBS Boston.

The President of Catholic Memorial, Dr. Peter Folan, praised his students for their empathy and benevolence.

‘Paying homage to a veteran, to provide the burial rights he deserves, and to honor his legacy, and to help our boys realize that we have to stand with those who are marginalized, those that are poor or those of our community that are cast out.’

He said he hopes when his students graduate they will continue to show gratitude and respect and help those in need.

The students didn’t know the veteran personally, they only knew him as John.

This gives me hope for future generations.

Real men may be a dying breed…. but they still exist.

Let us hope that THESE, and not the “I WANT MY A’S AND I WANT THEM NOW” kids are the future of tomorrow…

One of the students, Will Padden, revealed he was humbled to honor John, especially so close to Veterans Day.

‘We have a lot of veterans in our family, so I know the sacrifice he made for the country and I know the service he committed in the years he committed to serving our country,’ he said.

‘Parts of our character is to make sure that you’re there for someone when they need a shoulder to cry on, that you’re there for someone when they need a friend to open up to.’

‘So John in this case needed a family and we were there to be John’s family,’ the student said.

The school partnered with Lazarus Ministry and Lawlar and Crosby Funeral Home to plan the funeral for the veteran.

Wow.

I hope my future sons grow up to be like these young men.

While I am deeply saddened that this Vet died with nothing to his name, my heart is so full knowing he was honored as he deserved to be.