ARLINGTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Community members and first responders gathered for a touching tribute to honor the life of a 93-year-old Air Force veteran who died over the weekend in Arlington.
Mary Foley was intended to be buried with full military honors but, all that was called off due to coronavirus concerns.
So, instead, her community planned a socially distant procession from Arlington to her final resting place in Malden.
“It’s the least I could do is to get out here and express my thank you for you know for being a veteran,” Michael McGrath said.
Arlington Police and Fire Department felt the same way and came out to participate in the procession.
She served in the Korean and Vietnam wars and passed away without any living family members.
And even though some members of the community didn’t know Foley personally, they came out to pay their respects to an American hero.
“It was great to see so many people here, I was so sad to hear that she didn’t have a family,” Jillian McArthur said. “I’m sure she had a lot of friends, she looked like a lady who had a lot of friends.”
Foley served her country for almost 13 years and was selected to be the 2020 military grand marshal for Arlington’s Patriot Day parade.
However, the event had to be canceled due to the pandemic.
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