A Korean War veteran with dementia left his home in Detroit to get a pack of cigarettes on July 18. When he unknowingly ended up in West Tennessee, a community came together to coordinate getting him home.

According to Weakley County Investigative Sgt. Marty Plunk, Sgt. Danny Browning pulled Clifton Fullmore over after receiving a call about a driver going the wrong way on a four-lane highway.

Sgt. Browning soon learned Fullmore was a long way from home. According to Google Maps, around 620 miles away — at least a 10 hour drive.

Browning took Fullmore to the sheriff's office and began trying to contact family and local veteran organizations.

"He actually thought he was still in Michigan," Plunk said.

Rick Mckenzie, a ​Weakley County Veterans Affairs services officer, received a phone call at 10:30 p.m. July 18 from the sheriff's department.

"The officer told me (Fullmore) was confused about where he was, and (the sheriff's) only option was to arrest him, and he didn't want to do that," Mckenzie said.

So Mckenzie contacted members of veteran organization Rolling Thunder TN-6, who helped get Fullmore into a motel for the next two nights. They made sure he was fed and left him with some extra cash.

"You could tell he was a little confused," Mckenzie said. "I don't think he was scared. Every time I drove by the motel, he was sitting in the swing out front watching the cars go by.

"He did make a statement, if I'm not mistaken: 'So this is Tennessee?'" Mckenzie recalled.

Tony Lane, a Veterans of Foreign Wars commander, coordinated a flight back to Detroit. He and two members of his staff split the cost of the $383 one-way ticket from Nashville to Detroit in Fullmore's name. On Saturday morning, Lane and his wife drove Fullmore to the Nashville airport and made sure he boarded his plane.

"The airport people let me take him all the way to the gate," Lane said.

While waiting to board the plane, Lane said a younger man offered up his seat to him. Lane soon learned the other man was also a veteran. Upon the connection, the other man promised to make sure Fullmore made it to baggage claim and his family waiting for him in Detroit.

"I'm a veteran myself. This guy was a highly decorated Korean War veteran. I had to do something to help this man," Lane said.

Fullmore made it home safely, although his car did not.

"Now he has his car sitting in Tennessee. If anyone wants to volunteer to bring the car back to Michigan, we would appreciate it," Mckenzie said.

Mckenzie described this situation as "very rare."

Fullmore, 84, was part of the 101st Airborne Division.

For Mckenzie, the hardest part of this situation was the lack of resources for veterans in the area.

"This is the sad thing, there's no mechanism out there, especially in these rural areas, to take care of somebody that's a veteran if something comes up."

Reach Brooklyn Dance at bdance@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @hibrookIyn