Missouri Truck Driver Pulls Over To Salute Military Funeral

ST. LOUIS, MO — ABC 13 reports a touching show of respect by a Missouri truck driver on Highway 70 near St. Louis last week. Bradley Faulkner, a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Iraq War, pulled his big rig off the road when he noticed a funeral procession headed to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery and saluted.

That procession was for Fred Ladage, a World War II Navy veteran who recently died at age 91. He was buried with full military honors Friday. But for Ladage's granddaughter, Kristen Collins, Faulkner's display was one of the most touching honors her grandfather received that day. She snapped a photo that she later posted to Facebook showing Faulkner standing beside his truck saluting the procession, his hand over his heart.

"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," she wrote. "Thank you for showing such great honor — I found and got to personally thank this man!"

According to ABC 13, Collins tried to find the man and quickly discovered a mutual friend. Several hours later, she was thanking him with a hug.

"Being a veteran didn't change anything about the situation," Faulkner told ABC 13. "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."

Check out Collins' post below:

Photo by Kristen Collins, used with permission