Thousands of people on Wednesday attended the funeral of a Vietnam War veteran after hearing that he had no living relatives.

Friends of Wayne Wilson had put out a call for people to come to his burial at the Silverbrook Cemetery in Niles, Michigan, and expected only 10 to 15 people to show up, CNN reported.

Instead, about 3,000 folks turned up to pay their respects.

“None of us figured that it would be as big as it was,” said Sergeant-at-Arms of American Legion Post 51 Richard Stuart. “Every veteran has the right to have a funeral like this. You’re showing honor to a veteran who has passed away.”

Brown Funeral Home & Cremation Services helped publicize the funeral, putting out a statement in local papers calling on people to pull through for Wilson, who died May 28 at the age of 67.

He had served in the US Army from 1971 to 1977 and then became a truck driver, according to his obituary.

“Being a veteran, he sacrificed years of his life, could’ve been his life for our country, and it’s the least we can do,” Drew Mikel, an intern at the funeral home, told NBC15.

“Wilson was an American hero who deserves our respect, even after death,” he added. “If we could just come out and show him that he is loved, even though he doesn’t have family.”

Some of the people who attended the funeral were locals, while others drove from Tennessee, Iowa, Florida and Indiana to pay their respects, Mikel told CNN.

Full military honors and the military salute were performed for Wilson at the ceremony.

“The community simply embraced it and took it upon themselves, made it their mission (to celebrate Wilson),” Mikel said.