Vietnam veteran not buried alone...Intern's invitation brought 3,000

Intern's efforts bring 3,000 attendees to funeral of Vietnam veteran who had no living relatives

ABC News
By ELIZABETH THOMAS
Jul 18, 2019

It wasn’t just the local community that came to pay their respects. Others drove to Michigan from Iowa, Tennessee and Florida to honor the veteran.

When Wayne Wilson passed away in May with no surviving family members, his friends initially planned for a small service of 10 people.

But when Drew Mickel, an intern at Brown Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Niles, Michigan, put out a call to the public inviting them to Wilson’s funeral, the small service turned into a massive gathering as more than 3,000 people showed up from across the country to honor the deceased veteran.

“We were just hoping that some of the public would come out and honor him and pay respects,” Mickel told ABC News. “It turned out that a lot of people showed up, saying that he might not have family but I’ll be his family for the day."

Wilson, a Vietnam War veteran, passed away May 28 at age 67. He served in the army from 1971 to 1977, according to his obituary.
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