WILBRAHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A veteran in western Massachusetts held a special Memorial Day tribute on Monday.
He decided to stand in the rain for hours in order to pay respect to his fellow military men and women.
Now, the symbolic gesture is getting a lot of attention.
For more than nine hours, Army Specialist Darren Swallow, from Hardwick, stood at attention, holding the American flag at the Wingate Nursing Home in Wilbraham.
“My girlfriend told me yesterday the flagpole behind us was taken down either during a storm or from a plow truck so I thought I’d come down and honor our veteran – Let them know they have not been forgotten,” Swallow said.
“He was very passionate about it when I told him we didn’t have a flag here. He is an angel, he is, he really is one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life,” girlfriend Anora DuPont said.
DuPont said Swallow served several tours of duty in Iraq.
His gesture, honoring other veterans, meant so much to one nursing home employee, whose two children and son-in-law are all in the service.
“Pride. beautiful… I mean it’s a feel good story, he’s celebrating the veterans because we didn’t have a flagpole, he came to celebrate the veterans everywhere,” Susan Huart, whose son is in the military, said.
To others, the gesture was inspiration, a moment in time to show their children.
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