Trucker Pulls Over to Salute Funeral Procession for World War II Veteran

trucker veteran salute

An Army veteran showed a tremendous level of respect toward the funeral procession for a World War II veteran, and the image of his act went viral.

Bradley Faulkner, the U.S. Army veteran in question, is currently a truck driver. He noticed the funeral motorcade traveling down a Missouri highway and pulled over to allow the drivers through.

Faulkner then got out of his semi and solemnly placed his hand over his heart as the vehicles went by.

The World War II veteran’s granddaughter captured the image and shared it on social media.

“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!”

Faulkner met up with the granddaughter, Kristen Collins, after his wife recognized him in the photo. He served his country in Iraq in the military police.

As for the World War II veteran, his name is Fred Ladage and he served in the Navy and Navy Reserves in WWII.

Collins explained what it meant for Faulkner and others to pause and honor her grandfather.

“For that moment, everything about my grandfather about his legacy and life was important,” she said. “And people were stopping to honor that.”

Ladage was married to his wife – her grandmother – for over 61 years according to Collins. He was laid to rest with full military honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

He served his country with dignity in World War II, and over 70 years later is still inspiring people.

Thank you, Mr. Ladage! And thank you too, Mr. Faulkner, for reminding us why men like him deserve honor and respect!

Please share this story with your friends and family!

Rusty Weiss has been covering politics for over 15 years. His writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, Fox... More about Rusty Weiss

Mentioned in this article: