KILLEEN, Texas — America did not gain its independence without blood and sacrifice, and few know the cost of that sacrifice like gold star families.
Honor, commitment, sacrifice: these are lessons Private First Class Bradley Warner learned from his father, Staff Sergeant Daniel Warner, before he was found unconscious in his barracks in 2010.
Now 13 year later, at age 23, he visits his father's grave at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in a Texas Army National Guard uniform.
”It’s a real honor for me to come out here and salute my dad for everything that he’s done for me and for everything that he gave me,” Pfc. Warner said. “Even though he’s not here, I can still continue his legacy.”
A legacy he knew he wanted to follow but wasn’t sure when, until he saw what he believed were signs from his father telling him it was time.
”His favorite dog showed up in front of my truck at the recruiters, his birthday on a certain movie, and there was just a certain song that was playing continuously for me,” Pfc. Warner said.
Now his mother looks on at her son wearing the same uniform his father once did.
”Seeing that and praying in my vision,” Jennifer Warner, Gold Star spouse and mother of Pfc. Bradley Warner, said. “Seeing him one day, that he would salute his father. That he would come to his grave, visit his grave and salute him. It's just like, well done son.”
Pride she knows his father would share.
”I am happy, thankful and blessed that my son is serving, and he is honoring his father and his legacy,” Jennifer Warner said. “Showing that yes, he is gone but not forgotten.”
Never forgotten, that is why Pfc. Warner has a message for the father he knows is watching over him.
”I am very thankful for you, and I wish that you were still here with me,” Pfc. Warner said. “Even though I know you’re not here, you’ll always be very dearly close to my heart. I love you pa.”
Pfc. Warner plans to continue serving in the Texas Army National Guard for now with aspirations of becoming an active-duty officer in the Army in the future.
