“As a combat veteran, one of the most difficult, yet honoring things to attend is a funeral service for a fellow brother or sister in arms that you had the pleasure of serving with. That was the situation I found myself in on March 24th. I was riding in the funeral procession for CSM (Ret) Elijah King and by the time the procession reached HWY 195, it was raining pretty hard and there was no sign of letting up. In the distance I noticed a truck pulled off to the side of the road with its door open. As my car got closer, I noticed a young man standing in the rain at attention saluting as each and every car passed by him.
Seeing this restored my faith in humanity. I learned that this young man was a local Fort Hood Soldier named Kenneth Varnes. My eyes began to swell with tears and my heart grew with pride. Not only was he representing Fort Hood in such a positive manner, but I felt that this young man displays all of the Army Values that were taught to each and every Soldier — past, present and future — and he should be a model for what we expect from each and every one of our Soldiers.”
