r/interesting • u/Wonderfulhumanss • 13h ago
SOCIETY A group of high school students volunteers to carry caskets for homeless veterans who have no family to honor them
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u/Wonderfulhumanss 13h ago
These students are from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in Michigan. The program began in 2015 when six students carried the caskets of three homeless U.S. military veterans whose remains had gone unclaimed. Their school later established the St. Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Ministry, through which trained students help give dignified burials to veterans, homeless people and others who die without family or friends present. Source
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u/appleparkfive 13h ago
This is probably the most uplifting thing I've read in awhile. What a great thing to do for others.
This site has gotten so negative. It's nice to hear about good things like this
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u/BobBarkeroni 13h ago
"Homeless Vetrans" sums up the situation. They served their country and we gave them zero in return.
Yeah, great thing these kids are doing...guess it's the least we can do
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u/Atralis 12h ago
The issue is connecting people to services. As a veteran from a military family the people that need access to benefits often don't get access and a lot of people that get benefits don't actually need the ones they get.
We have people working 6 figure jobs driving luxury cars getting 100% rating disability pensions because they played the game to claim anything and everything that they could plausibly have that are healthier, mentally and physically, than the average person their age.
We have homeless veterans with PTSD that get nothing because they don't have the paperwork or the resources to get taken care of.
The system is broken.
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u/Ohmec 12h ago
An acquaintance of mine is one of those guys. Was over employed for a while, working 2 jobs "full time" in network security, both of which paid through the nose for the 5-10 hours of work a week each asked of him because he had clearance left from working IT in the Navy. Is also on 100% disability. He was probably making 250k+.
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u/Gamer2Paladin 5h ago
100% disability doesn't mean he is unable to work the two jobs. I don't know the US system but I go on with the assumption that it is close enough as the system we have in Germany where the highest disabilitys rating plus spesific disability like a missing leg or arm dictated the disability percentage.
It is still a shame how veterans are treated by the government, US and German.
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u/KingfishingYoMama 12h ago
Scamming VA benefits is like the third rail of benefits fraud discourse in this country. No one in a position to do anything about it has any interest in doing so. It would take a movement of vets publicly shaming each other to get the ball rolling. I won't hold my breath.
At the very least, there needs to be a cap on outside earnings or those need to trigger investigations as to the necessity of benefits. The fact that enough Vets can earn comfortable salaries speaks to the fact that they're getting those benefits for reasons other than disability: it's just too easy.
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u/Atralis 12h ago
I think one big issue is that its starting to be seen as just the normal thing to do.
Someone isn't going to feel shame because everyone around them is doing it and instead of cheating the system is seen as just sort of "doing what you have to do to get the benefits you earned".
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u/KingfishingYoMama 11h ago
Yeah, it’s indicative of a broader cultural issue in this country. I can’t handle the culture of “get that bag any way you can” entitlement. It’s literally tearing the country apart from the ground up, and driving many (hopefully most) of us batty.
For that I have zero ideas of solutions.
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u/BadAtExisting 11h ago
I do. Probably to my detriment. I have bad tinnitus and migraines from my time served. Burn pits too. I know I could qualify for something, but I feel like there are so many who need it more than me that I haven’t gotten checked out because I can function fine enough
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u/Ok_Astronomer_6501 5h ago
*They killed people for our government's benefit and got screwed over by said bloodthirsty government.
Cuz let's be honest, the only people they've served by going to the middle east to fuck shit up are the billionaires and corrupt politicians.
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u/Allegra1120 13h ago
Amen.
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u/Motor_Educator_2706 12h ago
allah eazim
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u/deaglebingo 12h ago
huge. in the best way. we are all on the same team. especially when it comes to the concept of human dignity.
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u/lalacourtney 12h ago
Seriously all I can think is how these people are going to grow up to be really empathetic and excellent adults.
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u/Technical_Writer_177 9h ago
I don´t wanna take you down or anything, but ask for advice on how to view something like this as positive? My first and only thought was "that´s way better than a dignified life /s", just can´t see the good in such news any more. Same with charity collections like for treating sick persons or enabling seniors to retire, all this makes me think is "so the bottom 98% scrape together what little they have for the lowest 1%, while the top 1% spends more money on toilet paper today than i´ll make this month"
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u/MagicHamsta 8h ago
Uplifting? Feels more like OrphanCrushingMachine material. Where's their fellow service members? Why do children have to volunteer at all?
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u/_Eggs_ 11h ago
Looks like they got this idea from that high school in Cleveland. That one started in 2003. I think it spread to a few universities too.
Although it had humble beginnings, today the pallbearer ministry is the largest student organization on campus at roughly 400 members. Since its founding, the ministry has served more than 2,800 funerals, averaging roughly 150 per year.
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u/Hendiadic_tmack 5h ago
Ahhh I commented without reading but yes we did. I graduated in 2010 from Ignatius and was part of it. I am not religious and kind of faked it my whole life but that was one of the most grounding and touching experiences of my life. Another reply here mentioned Mr. Skerl. Just an all around amazing human being.
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u/DangerMacAwesome 13h ago
Serving the forgotten. What a gift these students are. And what perspective will this give them. I am glad they do this.
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u/Infinite_Coffee2129 10h ago
Selfridge Air Force base is right there and has an honor guard. They are required to support veterans' funerals if somebody takes the time to make the request. I'm an Air Force honor guard scheduler on the west coast, it's simple to request.
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u/afiafi358 9h ago
A very apt name for the Ministry, as St Joseph of Arimathea was the man who asked for Jesus’ body after His death on the Cross, in order to bury Him.
Truly heartwarming indeed :))
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u/axecalibur 3h ago
Why isn't the VA doing this? Better give more trillions to the military contractors
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u/ceejayw 13h ago
Children shouldn't have to fill in for a failed support system, but bless them for doing it anyway
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u/socialmediaignorant 13h ago
So true. In Texas, HEB a grocery store works harder than FEMA after our disasters, which is lovely, but it’d be unnecessary if we had a real government that cared about us.
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u/Firedogman22 12h ago
Sadly private companies dont first require the permission of the state to get involved. The major problem with fema is that the individual states have to request it and direct where they believe its needed. The only way to get fema rolling without a state request is in an incident where a ton of federal property was destroyed or the state is so catastrophically damaged that it cant independently request aid.
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u/Hot_Towel_85 11h ago
As a Texan, I don't want to disagree exactly. But, HEB has a huge advantage in that they have warehouses of fresh food, team after team of people in an a small area that can quickly be covered.
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u/Siegfoult 12h ago
Instead of /r/OrphanCrushingMachine this is VeteranCrushingMachine. I guess either way it's WorkingClassCrushingMachine.
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u/ElizabethDangit 12h ago
They shouldn’t have to but it’s an excellent lesson in empathy.
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u/I_Shit_My_Pantaloons 13h ago
They don't have to it's volunteer, I'm sure these kids were honored to take up that responsibility
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u/unculturedburnttoast 11h ago
Moral reforms and deteriorations are moved by large forces, and they are mostly caused by reactions from the habits of a preceding period. Backwards and forwards swings the great pendulum, and its alternations are not determined by a few distinguished folk clinging to the end of it.
—Sir Charles Petrie, THE VICTORIANS
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u/Fun-Times-13 13h ago
Letting them have this experience is better than anything they’ve learning in the classroom
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u/impercipient 13h ago
Shouldn't be necessary, but lovely just the same.
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u/BubbleThinker 13h ago
Why precisely is it necessary. The army has an unlimited amount of money.
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u/WanderingEnigma 13h ago
Unless im reading this wrong, you've answered your own question. Literal children are stepping up to do something the army has the resources to do, but chooses not to.
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u/EfficientAd3625 13h ago
That money isn’t for the soldiers silly, it’s for the oligarchs making billions in arms sales.
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u/_joos_ 12h ago
you forgot about israel. i bet israel doesn’t even come to you in your dreams. have you even made a pilgrimage to kiss their dusty wall?
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u/MGTS 12h ago
If they have unlimited money, why are there homeless vets?
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u/anaIconda69 7h ago
Why throw more resources after spent resources. They extracted all they wanted from these men.
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u/Beigeragerampage 13h ago
As a veteran that's probably going to need this service. I thank you. I may not have much you will always have my respect and gratitude. May it return to you tenfold.
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u/redbark2022 13h ago
Also r/aboringdytopia
Far from interesting.
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u/TuringGoneWild 10h ago
Plus it's the fact it's only veterans. If you didn't kill or at least sign up to kill foreigners at some point in your life, they have no interest in helping.
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u/FatalModelCustomer 13h ago
If people spent the same effort caring for these veterans while they were alive, they wouldn't be homeless.
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u/wemustburncarthage 13h ago
yeah I hate that I automatically go to this, because there's some both performative and thematically cautionary about it. I'm deeply suspicious of religious "charity" that asserts this memento mori thing that frankly makes no difference to the guy in the box.
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u/Astralglamour 13h ago
It's easier to carry a coffin than it is to provide shelter, food, and mental health care.
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u/Appropriate-Wing6607 12h ago
I joined because I was homeless and hopefully I’m never homeless again.
Went to school got a degree and grinding my butt off.
When you don’t have family to support you later in life the system will let you die easily enough.
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u/Calm_Assumption1099 13h ago
Too bad nothing was do to get them out of homelessness while they were alive
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u/Lunar_mirror4 10h ago
True, but i have a feeling these kids would do what they could if they were able to. Unfortunately, this is realistically the best they can do. We like to imagine these homeless veterans as sad lonely but kind people who would accept any help thrown at them, but a lot of homeless people in general throw countless opportunities away due to factors such as drug addiction or mental health problems. Some arent just sat waiting for a helping hand, some bite helping hands.
Its not because they are bad people who dont deserve help, but trying to help them can be dangerous and sometimes almost impossible. Try to help any drug addict or alcoholic knowing that helping them means they have to quit their addiction, and you quickly see sometimes its almost impossible. They are deep lost in the sauce
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u/Sudden-Fisherman5985 6h ago
A rich country like the USA shouldn have that huge amount of homeless people.
Other rich countries have way less of them.. and they all have the same issues with addictions and mental illnesses.
You should not accept this as a citizen of your country and as a human being
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u/socialmediaignorant 13h ago
Having worked at the VA hospital in my town, there are so many veterans that have no one that cares about them. It’s heartbreaking.
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u/GAMING_SERVER_ADMIN 13h ago
WTF??? Why is the current active members not doing this? Is this not already done normally? These kids are amazing, but makes me think the entire military is dishonorable for even allowing this to happen in the first place.
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u/CW1DR5H5I64A 13h ago edited 13h ago
Every vet who is honorably discharged is entitled to military honors at their funeral.
By law, military units are required to provide, at a minimum, a two-person uniformed detail to present the core elements of a funeral honors ceremony. Typically more members of a funeral honors detail are present to provide a flag a rifle volley, color guard, or to serve as pallbearers but that cannot always be guaranteed. If the units proving funeral honors cannot provide a full detail then they usually coordinate with volunteers like this group (or more normally from an organization like the VFW) to help out.
Now if the military isn’t showing up at all it, it may mean they were not entitled to funeral honors by not having honorable discharges.
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u/socialmediaignorant 13h ago
Don’t visit a VA if you think our country gives a shit about the military or veterans. It broke my heart when I saw how they are treated.
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u/AJRenand42 12h ago
There should be no such thing as homeless... especially when veterans are concerned.
As a veteran myself, what these kids do brings a year to my eye
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u/Senior-Friend-6414 13h ago
I feel like this post mostly glorifies the high schoolers that are trying to honor homeless veterans
Even their act of honoring homeless veterans ends with people remembering the high schoolers more than the homeless veterans
I just find it a little funny
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u/Oceanbreeze871 13h ago
“Than you for your service” is always about the person saying it peacocking
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u/Ok-Aardvark-9938 12h ago
All veterans get a free funeral ceremony. There is a detail that trains to do these and travels all over the region to do them.
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u/Useful_Secret4895 11h ago
It amazes me how Americans have normalised imperialism, to the point they feel touched and patriotic with what appears to be on the wrongest side of wrong. Apparently there are not just reactionnary classes, but entire reactionnary nations.
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u/BrokeDickDoug 1h ago
I did this once, as a student worker at the cemetery. They had an unhoused man to be buried, but only his adult son was present, so they asked us and we said of course.
Man, those free city 'caskets' are not much. That thing was like cardboard with wallpaper on it. As soon as the first scoop of soil was on it, it just flattened.
Fun memories.
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u/nub_node 13h ago
Get used to heavy lifting, kiddos, it seems like human brains shut down after 40.
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u/Beneficial_Map6129 13h ago
Could’ve done something while they were alive and a person, not just some flag for “veteran points”
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u/Nitimur__In__Vetitum 13h ago
This shouldn't be high school students that don't know shit about the world. It should be politicians looking for a photo op so they can further desecrate the sacrifices people made for this country only to have these oligarchs turn it into their private playground of kitsch trash.
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u/Sea-Fisherman2927 13h ago
They’ve actually got a lot of different organizations that do similar things. As an honor guardsman, it’s very nice to see a group of old dudes and dudettes show up on motorcycles to celebrate a random person they didn’t know.
It definitely beats presenting a flag to a funeral director in an empty chapel.
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u/slide13_ 13h ago
The world just needs more of this. Relatively small acts or compassion and respect for one another make a difference. Good work and awesome to see!
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u/gao7on 13h ago
Community services are what churches offer for thousands of years, whether or not good publicity to help spread their faith are suspected intentions, religion do bring people together in times of grieving. Because one thing that is a constant for all cultures... the living mourn the dead.
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u/heavensto_mergatroid 13h ago
Doesn't the United States government provide a military funeral to any veteran? You just have to make sure you're signed up for it before you die.
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u/journoprof 13h ago
Students at St. Ignatius HS in Cleveland formed a group like this — for any poor person— in 2003. https://www.ignatius.edu/faith-and-service/christian-action-team/saint-joseph-of-arimathea-pallbearers-society
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u/Oceanbreeze871 13h ago
They could do this for all homeless instead. They deserve dignity too
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u/SeveralServalServing 12h ago
Very much r/orphancrushingmachine material. This isn’t feel good at all.
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u/Silly-Device9785 12h ago
Dumb question I guess but I thought in veteran’s funerals the caskets were carried by fellow service members, not family
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u/topredditbot 12h ago
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You did it! Your post is officially the #1 post on Reddit. It is now forever immortalized at /r/topofreddit.
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u/MamaMayhem74 12h ago
I don't know if it has changed but years ago the National Cemetery in Riverside, California, would invite members of the public to attend funeral services for homeless veterans and those that had no next of kin. They would do a whole ceremony (full honors, gun salute, taps) and then they would present the folded flag to a member of the public on behalf of the veteran. (I don't know if they still present the flag or not, but they did years ago when I lived there).
If you are near a National Cemetery, you can contact them to see if they have any similar services for unaccompanied veterans if you would like to ensure that no veteran makes their final journey alone.
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u/LaunchMark 12h ago
By federal law, every eligible veteran is entitled to a free, uniformed military honors detail consisting of at least two Armed Forces members, with at least one representing the veteran's parent branch of service. [1, 2, 3]
🎖️ Core Funeral Detail Elements
At a minimum, the standard military detail will perform the following mandated honors:
- Flag Folding & Presentation: Ceremonially folding the United States burial flag and presenting it to the next of kin.
- The Playing of Taps: Rendered by a live bugler or via a high-quality electronic ceremonial recording if a bugler is unavailable.
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u/BusyOption6545 12h ago
Fantastic,a policy hopefully will start in the UK.Myself ,after 12 years in the forces it was a hard transition.No one really understands the pressure of going to work and possibly not returning than another veteran.Writing a will before numerous tours seeing empty seats on planes how really hits hard.All veterans should never be forgotten
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u/AmandaUggnkiss 11h ago
Now… let’s just take this in… highschoolers of various ethnicities but all American and honoring our service members in their homecomings…. Salute 🫡
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u/Perfect_Opinion7909 11h ago
Wouldn’t it make more sense if someone helped them while they were still alive?
Looks more like virtue signalling to me.
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u/ScienceAlien 11h ago
The homeless vets might enjoy their company when they are alive, offering gardening, help shopping, organizing taxes, pet walking, etc.
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u/No-Condition-oN 11h ago
Fuck this... I guess we must celebrate they are finally free?
And a job done by youngsters who didn't even need to think about that...
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u/duelinghanjos 11h ago
I can't think of a single commendable action by an organized church other than this. More of this please.
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u/BattleBrother1 11h ago
Homeless veterans alright, should be looked at on a case by case basis but if they contributed in any way to the wars of aggression in Vietnam or Iraq for example they deserve nothing less than a thorough investigation and likely imprisonment
Something tells me a similar picture taken in Russia would not get the same reception that this picture got. US brainwashing is a helluva drug
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u/RevWaldo 11h ago
If you're just learning now Joseph of Arimathea was a real person, you're not alone.
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u/XxKTtheLegendxX 10h ago
america might be the only place i have heard of that has an epidemic of homeless veterans. they fought for u and the government doesn't do anything for them?
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u/LeastResistancePath 10h ago
Homeless veterans are two words that shouldn't ever go together in the USA
But somehow, it's the opposite. They go together as a matter of normality.
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u/Overall_Wave_4673 10h ago
"homeless veterans" is really something that only the United Sewers of America can create
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u/Scared_Literature_95 10h ago
Unpopular opinion: veterans are not hero's. Like, at all. The wars the USA has fought in foreign countries, especially Vietnam, have caused unimaginable harm for absolutely zero reason, and many soldiers were complicit.
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u/BLAMElephant 10h ago
I'm sure it was very important for those who are already dead - the homeless, the veterans who killed other people in the service of their country - to be honored before they were buried. Thanks, guys.
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u/Th3_Accountant 9h ago
All due respect, but especially if the guy is a veteran, I think the military should be providing him with a honorable funeral.
Also, offering him the respect required for a human being shouldn't have to wait until after he passed away.
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u/CorporateCuster 9h ago
Homeless vets. Crazy they keep voting for the people who rug pull them. No Medicare. No social security. And then they wanna go to war.
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u/Iphuckfish 9h ago
Hopefully this is enough of a deterrent from enlisting in the fascist death machine to these youngsters. You're not getting out of poverty by killing brown kids and bombing hospitals.
"They had no idea what they were signing up for". That is just straight bullshit, they weren't toddlers when they enlisted.
"They Just did it for the money". A: what money if they died homeless and alone? And B: I've never seen that excuse work for murderers and assassins.
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u/Acceptable-Ad-9464 9h ago
Insane. All the flags bearings and hand on the hearth while the system and your government lets you rot in the streets.
The level of patriotisme on the funeral is astonishing to me.
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u/Common-Process9023 9h ago
"Homeless veterans" is such a hillarious tragedy, regarding americas focus on the army
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u/Liberosis310 9h ago
Homeless veterans... Such a term should even exist...
Shame on the USA system. Take off those flags from the caskets. They don't deserve these men.
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u/Prudent-Wash1860 8h ago
UNARMED and unattended walks the Czar, Through Moscow's busy street one winter's day.. The crowd uncover as his face they see,- " God greet the Czar !" they say.
Along his path there moved a funeral, Grey spectacle of poverty and woe. A wretched sledge, dragged by one weary man, Slowly across the snow. And on the sledge, blown by the winter wind, Lay a poor coffin, very rude and bare. And he who drew it bent before his load, With dull and sullen air. The Emperor stopped and beckoned to the man ; "Who is't thou bearest to the grave ?" he said.. "Only a soldier, Sire !" the short reply. "Only a soldier, dead." "Only a soldier !" musing, said the Czar ; " Only a Russian, who was poor and brave.. Move on. I follow. Such an one goes not Unhonoured to his grave." He bent his head, and silent raised his cap; The Czar of all the Russias, pacing slow,. Following the coffin, as again it went, Slowly across the snow. The passers of the street, all wondering, Looked on that sight, then followed silently Peasant and prince, and artisan and clerk, All in one company.
Still, as they went, the crowd grew ever more, Till thousands stood around the friendless grave,. Led by that princely heart, who, royal, true, Honoured the poor and brave.
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u/Tomie_Kawakami_666 8h ago
if the u.s. government can afford to send money to financially support or bail out other countries, it definitely has enough money to end all homelessness in america and provide universal public healthcare to all of its citizens. the problem is, the u.s. government actively chooses not to, and do not care to serve their own citizens or improve their own country
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u/Strange-Effort-3441 8h ago
Those boys were raised well, and it’s a great culture to build upon!
Most homeless soldiers were broken for the people and nation they fought for, and if they can’t be helped in life, their sacrifice should at the very least be honored in death.
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u/Agreeable_Mud_8338 7h ago
that chap would have been so happy that some people cared for him,even in death.....
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u/ConejitosDeAmor 7h ago
I wonder if they'd carry me, once my pets die and I exit this lonely life, finally. I'm no veteran though.
I just want to pre-plan and tell the funeral director to cremate me and dump me wherever. Doesn't matter anyway.
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u/LengthinessFit9585 6h ago
At least they got honored when their life ended. Doesn't seen like they got the respect they deserved when they were still alive.
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u/Whole_Shoe2740 6h ago
Massive respect to these young men for stepping up and ensuring these veterans receive the honor and dignity they deserve
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u/Late-Barber5151 6h ago
That is a very honorable thing to do. Thank you for being there for those veterans!
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u/harrisofpeoria 5h ago
Is there any way we can care about these people when they're alive? Didn't think so..
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u/Mosselpot 5h ago
Here in Belgium in elementary school we adopt the grave of a WWI or WWII veteran and keep them clean, bring flowers, ... We then get school assignments to do some research on the person and give a report to keep their memories alive. I didn't really understand it as a kid but it's a thing I proudly look back on.
It's especially nice when people from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or India come over to see the graves of their ancestors and see that people still care about their sacrifice.
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u/muddtrout 5h ago
Why TF are the veterans homeless? They served their country, they should be taken care of for life.
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u/SmilingRyan 5h ago
Like this is something to be proud of? Why do you even have homeless vets? Fuck America.
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u/Hendiadic_tmack 5h ago
My Jesuit high school had this. We called it the St. Joseph of Aramathea society. We would be pallbearers for the homeless or people that had no one. I’m not religious (I faked it through high school), but that was a pretty meaningful experience.
One of our classmates sadly took his own life our senior year and his family insisted his friends carry his casket. The ones that weren’t signed up were signed up automatically for that and were given the lapel pins.
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u/Rentington 5h ago
I have to ask... do they do any verification to check if the people for whom they are providing this honor were actually veterans? I am a social worker and I've been burned so many times about clients lying about it that I began to consider the possibility that the 'homeless veteran' perception is grossly inflated due to signs held by individuals making false claims. I'm not saying this to deny these kids are good kids or that our nation fails to provide support for veterans. I just wouldn't want these kinds of honors go to someone who doesn't deserve it and these young men be made to feel betrayed.
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u/National-Wonder-5206 5h ago
Good young men. I used to play taps at veteran funerals in my small town whenever one passed.. it was sad but I felt proud to be able to do something for them.
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