HELENA — On Friday, September 29, the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center held a memorial service for Vietnam veteran George E. Peterson Jr.
Peterson served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an engine equipment mechanic for six years.
He died on July 6 at the age of 77 and had no known living family.
The VA invited the community to come to a service for him.
More than 100 people came to pay their respects to this brave Marine.
“I’m just in awe. George was a very humble man, and he would have never expected anything like this,” Tanya Hartman, a close friend of George said, “This is what he deserved.”
Hartman meet him seven years ago when she started to visit veterans at Rocky Mountain Care Center.
![Veteran Funeral.jpg](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/88ead2d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fewscripps.brightspotcdn.com%2F50%2F55%2Faf9f872e4fbb8d107c3763baecab%2Fveteran-funeral.jpg)
She is the closest thing George had to a family.
“So many stories, too many to count. He definitely impacted my life and it’s a forever thing,” said Hartman.
She said George always perked up when she visited him.
He had a great attitude even after all he’d been though.
“Courage, big heart, his big smile. He has such a horrible life, but he was a fighter, a survivor,” Hartman said.
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