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WEBVTT DAVID: -- >> THIS BANNER OF LOVE FOLDED NOVEMBER THE 27TH, 2018 A THE OMAHA NATIONAL CEMETERY IS A LIVING MEMORIAL TO THE CORAGEO DUTY, OF OUR COMRADE, THE ONE WHO WAS HONORED THIS DAY. DAVID: IN THE VERY END, STANLEY C. STULTZ WAS NOT ALON THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M DAVID EARL. JULIE: I’M JULIE CORNELL. HIS FUNERAL NOTICE SAID HE WAS A VIETNAM VETERAN WITH NO KNOWN FAMILY. SO WHEN WORD SPREAD, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE SACRIFICED THEIR TIME, BRAVING THE COLD, TO SAY GOODBYE TO A HERO WHO SACRIFICED SO MUCH MORE DAVID: COVERAGE BEGINS AT 5:00 WITH KETV NEWSWATCH 7’S SARAH FILI. REPORTER: STANLEY STOLTZ’ BROTHER WAS ABLE TO MAKE THE FUNERAL TODAY, BUT ASKED NOT TO BE IDENTIFIED. HE SAYS HE’S THANKFUL FOR THE SUPPORT, BUT MANY OF THE PEOPLE I TALKED TO WERE THANKFUL FOR STANLEY WITHOUT EVER EVEN HAVING MET HIM. >> ARMS. READY. AIM. FIRE. REPORTER: A 21 GUN SALUTE. A SOMBER MELODY. A FLAG DRAPED CASKET CARRYING VIETNAM VETERAN STANLEY STOLTZ. BUT, HE WAS NOT ALONE. SEVERAL HUNDRED STRANGERS -- THERE TO SAY THANK YOU. >> I CLOSED UP SHOP. I SAID I’M GONNA HEAD TO OMAHA AND BURY MY BROTHER. REPORTER: STULTZ GREW UP IN IOWA, WAS DRAFTED, AND SERVED TWO YEARS IN VIETNAM. HE SPENT HIS ADULT LIFE WORKING IN BENNINGTON AND LIVED OUT HIS LAST DAYS SURROUNDED ONLY BY CAREGIVERS. THEN, HIS FUNERAL ANNOUNCEMENT APPEARED IN THE PAPER. >> I JUST THINK IT’S AMAZING HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME OUT TODAY TO SUPPORT THIS MAN NOT KNOWING THAT ANYBODY WAS HERE TO SUPPORT HIM WHEN HE LEFT THIS WORLD. AND, THERE’S SO MANY PEOPLE HERE TO SUPPORT THEM -- SUPPORT HIM IN FREEZING WEATHER JUST TO SHOW YOU THAT SOMEONE CARES NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE. REPORTER: SO MANY SHOWING UP TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS. >> HE HAD A HEART OF GOLD FOR OTHERS EVEN AT TIMES THE EXPENSE OF CARRYING FOR OTHERS. RESPECTS TO A MAN WHOM THEY NEVER MET. -- REPORTER: RESPECTS TO A MAN WHOM THEY NEVER MET. THOUGH THEY KNEW ABOUT STOLTZ’S BRAVERY, AND SACRIFICE. >> THIS IS AMAZING, IT’S BEAUTIFUL, THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE FROM NEBRASKA DO. REPORTER: SANLEY IS SURVIVED BY HIS BROTHER, A SISTER, AND 13 NIECES AND NEPHEWS. THE NATIONAL CEMETETRY IS KEEPING THE FLAG AND THEY PLAN TO FLY IT ON MEMORIAL DAY NEXT YEAR. REPORTING LIVE, SARAH FILI, KETV NEWSWATCH 7

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On a cold November afternoon, several hundred people gathered at the Omaha National Cemetery Tuesday to attend a funeral for a man most of them did not know.A small obituary drew them to the service for Vietnam veteran Stanley Stoltz. A funeral home posted that Stoltz had no known family when he died in hospice care in mid-November at the age of 73.The plea went viral, attracting national attention and hundreds of people, young and old, to Tuesday's service."I closed up shop. I said I'm gonna head to Omaha and bury my brother," Mike Nash said. Nash spent 23 years in the military and called it a family like no other."I didn't know who this guy was but you know what, he gave up his freedom when he joined the military, for that short time in Vietnam, for our freedom," Nash said.Others were brought to tears knowing Stoltz was surrounded my so much love and support during the funeral."I just think its amazing how many people came out today to support this man who left this world not knowing that anybody was there to support him. And there's so many people here to support him, in freezing weather, just to show that someone cares no matter who you are," Chelsea Bumann, who drove from Bellevue, said.After Stoltz's death, some family members came forward. Among them, Stoltz's brother, who attended the service and who was grateful for the support.Traffic on Highway 50 slowed to a crawl as people arrived at the cemetery, delaying the start of the ceremony."We weren't expecting this outpouring of love and affection for one of our veterans," said Chaplain Roy Edwards, "We know we're a veteran-friendly community, but you guys have really risen above this time."Stanley Stoltz grew-up in Emmetsburg, Iowa. His ex-wife says after his service, he was haunted by the war, and dragged down by substance abuse. The flag which draped Stoltz's coffin will remain at the cemetery to be flown on Memorial Day, 2019.