Hundreds arrive to pay respects to a Vietnam veteran who died with 'no known family'

On Tuesday at the Omaha National Cemetery, hundreds of strangers stood to honor a Vietnam veteran who had passed away. The large crowd gathered after his funeral notice listed “no known family.”

Pfc. Stanley C. Stoltz was drafted into the Vietnam war, like so many American men, but when the Omaha World-Herald printed a notice that the former soldier would be buried without family, news spread quickly on social media. As a result, more than 400 people, dressed in military fatigues, Vietnam veteran jackets or civilian clothing, arrived at the cemetery to honor Private Stoltz.

“This is the first time we’ve had this kind of crowd,” Chaplain Roy Edwards told the Omaha World-Herald. “Most get six to eight cars, 15 at most. This is hundreds.”

However, one family member, Stoltz’s brother Keith, did come to pay his respects, after all. He declined to comment to media.

“There’s an old saying that nobody loves a veteran like another veteran,” cemetery representative Mark Macko told those attending the service. “That was certainly shown today.”

According to Dennis Schissel, the president of the local chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, funerals for Vietnam vets usually draw 150 to 200 people. “We come together for something like this,” he told the outlet. “He was one of us at this time.”

Dick Harrington, of the Final Salute Society, was given Stoltz’s flag after his family declined it; the flag will be flown on Memorial Day at the cemetery unless family members change their minds.

“I was very moved,” Harrington said. “The fact that this many people cared about him — maybe three-quarters of them were vets, they just wanted to be here.”

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