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Vietnam veteran with no family honored at a memorial

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Posted at 6:26 PM, Sep 29, 2023

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.

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Over 100 people gather to honor George E. Peterson Jr.

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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