Colonel Jack L. UsreyThe soldier seen in a viral image standing outside his Jeep at a stoplight in the rain to salute a funeral procession has been identified as a colonel based in Nashville.
Colonel Jack L. Usrey was driving from Ft. Knox, Kentucky last week, according to a release from the Tennessee Department of Military, when a funeral procession passed while he was at a stoplight.
“I didn’t really think,” Usrey said. “I just did what my parents taught me to do growing up.”
“I stopped, got out, saluted the police escort and held my salute as the hearse and family passed by, then went on my way and didn’t give it a second thought.”
Erin Hester of Vine Grove, Kentucky snapped a photo of the act and posted it online where it has been seen more than a million times.