KILLEEN, Texas — Another one of the nation's military heroes has been laid to rest with no family in attendance, making it an unaccompanied funeral, but that doesn’t mean no one was there to send him off.
Active-duty soldiers, veterans, and members of the community gathered to honor the life and service of Specialist Travis Black who served during Vietnam.
His fellow veterans taking the time to make sure that the decorated hero had his military family there to salute him as he received military honors.
”When they come to be laid to rest at our veteran's cemetery, it’s an honor for us to come out and honor their service," said retired U.S. Army veteran, David Bass.
"Whether they served four years of 40 years, they made a tremendous sacrifice for our country."
Everyone sat in silence as the ceremonial flag was presented to Tony Dale, Executive Secretary of the Texas Veterans Land Board, on behalf of Specialist Black.
"It’s just an incredible honor to be here to receive the flag on behalf of this veteran. It's hard to put into words," Dale said.
The level of community support for unaccompanied veteran funerals is something that Dale said is unique in Central Texas.
”It’s unmatched numbers — always 75, 100, sometimes 200 people show up for somebody they've never met before and it’s so touching," Dale said.
“For the whole community on behalf of myself and Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, we just thank everyone for showing up.”
Specialist Black served from April 11, 1966, to Feb. 15, 1969, and deployed to Vietnam where he earned the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and Army Commendation Medal.
