It's part of the Soldier's Creed: No man is ever left behind or forgotten on the battlefield.
Officials at a cemetery in Corpus Christi, Texas, have adopted the same credo when conducting funeral services for military veterans.
Services were held Thursday at the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery for Army veteran Clifford Ray Dudley and Marine Lance Cpl. Dennis Ray Ashley. No next of kin or other relatives could be found for either soldier, so cemetery officials asked the public to attend the funeral. Both soldiers received full military honors.
"We do NOT leave Veterans behind," the cemetery wrote on its Facebook page.
An estimated 400 people, all strangers to Dudley and Ashley, showed up to pay tribute.
"We leave no man behind. Never have and we never will," Butch Cone of the Patriot Guard Riders of South Texas told KRIS. "As long as there is nobody to honor him, he is one of our brothers, and we're not going to let him go without the proper ceremony and the proper respect."
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