Attendees honor local veteran at funeral

PARKERS CROSSROADS, Tenn. — Army Sgt. Mary Nolen passed away with no known family.Her funeral was to be for an unclaimed veteran, but on Thursday, strangers ensured she was buried with full military honors.

“It just goes to show you there is no unclaimed veteran in West Tennessee,” said attendee Sandra Jones.

Many people came out Thursday to show their respect for Nolen. Jones was one of those who attended Nolen’s funeral in her honor.

“It absolutely broke my heart that she had no family or friends in order to attend the service,” Jones said.

Jones is still hurting from the loss of a loved one herself.

“I just buried my husband, and I can’t imagine being alone. So we felt like we should be here for her today,” Jones said.

Nolen was 86 years old when she passed away. She will forever be known by community members as a true American hero.

“My understanding is that she did not have any family, but we wanted to make sure that she had us as a family,” said veteran Mike Lawler.

Attendees said that they felt it was their duty to be present for Nolen’s funeral.

“We all are going to be in that place one day soon, and so we feel like that we take care of the people before us and the people after us all take care of us,” Lawler said.

“She did us a great honor by serving, and we feel like this was the least that we can do for her,” Jones said.

“As we live here in small town USA, we still hold tie to our beliefs that our veterans mean so much,” said DJ Brewer, managing director at Medina Funeral Home and Crematory.