DAYTON — Strangers showed up at the Dayton National Cemetery today to make sure a local veteran wasn’t laid to rest alone.
Major Leora Gray didn’t have any family in the area to welcome her home, but several people from the community showed up to make sure she wasn’t alone.
“This lady has no family, no friends, there was no one to come. And that shouldn’t happen,” A member of VFW 2800 from Kettering, Mary Wening said.
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Many of those who showed up to pay their respects were veterans themselves, or they were families of veterans.
“Thank you for what we have, thank you for our freedoms,” Wening said.
Wening has a long line of family who served in the military, and she was a part of the honor guard at the Dayton National Cemetery.
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“Our post was basically all Vietnam vets, our honor guard uniforms were Vietnam-era BDUs,” Wening said.
Major Gray served in the army during the Vietnam War era from 1974-1986. Before she joined the military, Gray lived in Middletown Ohio.
With no known relatives, the Dayton National Cemetery wanted to make sure she was not laid to rest by herself.
Claudia Welles is a member of the 2800 VFW in Dayton and has many family members who are veterans. She was there today to lay Gray to rest.
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“She stood up and served, and it takes care of my family and me and you know, that was a big sacrifice for her,” Welles said.
Welles understood the gravity of flying a veteran back home to be laid to rest because her grandfather served in both World Wars and part of the Korean War.
“We’re here to thank her and pay our respects,” Wening said.
Both women recognize the sacrifice Major Gray made for our country and showed up today to say thank you for the final time.
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