Family of NAS Pensacola shooting victim 'floored' by massive military salute

Nate Chute , Annie Blanks | Pensacola News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: The family of Joshua Watson drives through procession as hundreds salute The family of Joshua Watson drives through procession as hundreds of members of the military stand and salute.

It's quiet. The sound of a vehicle's blinker clicks louder than it normally would while a mother, a father, a sister-in-law and a brother's girlfriend sit silently.

Then, a line of service members saluting their passing vehicle appears. Captured on Facebook Live by the family, the line stretches for miles at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, just days after Joshua Kaleb Watson was taken away from his family in a shooting that left four people dead, including the shooter, and eight injured.

Dad Benjamin Watson reaches over to hold the hand of his wife, Shelia Wilemon Watson, as they continued driving in silence. Minutes later, they drove under a massive flag held up by firefighter truck ladders.

There are tears. There are moments where the emotion runs over and the Watson family breathes heavily, overcome by both the loss of a 23-year-old with dreams of becoming a Navy pilot and the remarkable show of support before them at the base.

Zack Watson, Joshua Kaleb's brother and the boyfriend of the woman who filmed the Facebook Live, told the News Journal in a text message that the show of support was incredible. Zack and his older brother weren't in the vehicle with the other family members because they were a part of the funeral detail that carried Josh's body onto the aircraft that then flew to Dover Air Force Base.

"They were astounded and deeply moved by the outpouring of love and support," Zack said. "Though my parents had two of their children join the Navy, they had not been able to directly observe the connection and camaraderie between everyone that wears a uniform. In a word, they were floored."

The young man had reported to Pensacola two weeks ago for flight training, according to his father.

“Heavily wounded, he made his way out to flag down first responders and gave an accurate description of the shooter,” Benjamin Watson told the News Journal in a phone interview the day after the shooting. “He died serving his country.”

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Jason Bortz, a spokesman for NAS Pensacola, said he had no idea how many service members showed up for the procession — "definitely more than a thousand," he guessed — but the outpouring of support was in line with how the base felt about all three young men's deaths.

"We just wanted to do something to honor our shipmates," Bortz said. "They were all volunteers that came out, nobody was directed to come out. And the response was overwhelming."

Nate Chute is a producer with the USA Today Network. Follow him on Twitter at @nchute.