It is not unusual for the funeral home or the local veterans’ organization to ask the community to assist in burying a deceased veteran if they have no family or friends.

These military funerals have been held at a Boston high school since 2017.

‘There it is, the American flag, and for a child, it is a full circle moment when they witness those two active service members fold the flag,

play taps, and then give the flag to the history instructor, a Marine. We may not fully comprehend the significance of such symbolism. That is more important than ever.

Since 2017, Catholic Memorial has conducted military funerals for veterans who are unrelated to them.

Although the school usually uses its chapel for the service, there have been a few occasions when all 600 pupils have been accommodated in the gym.

The all-boys school’s student body volunteers in a variety of capacities. While some read a scriptural passage, others assist with the pallbearers.

The Pallbearer Ministry at the University of Detroit Jesuit School in Michigan is overseen by Richard Mazyck.

He informed TODAY that since October 2015, the institution has been the site of veteran burials.

Former pupil Tom Lennon told TODAY in 2015, ‘This was an opportunity to give something to somebody who finished their life on the fringe of society.’

‘These warriors, who I had never met, contributed to the safety and strength of the nation in which I currently reside.

Everybody deserves a decent funeral, regardless of who they were or what they accomplished while on earth.

Folan claimed to have witnessed a shift in the pupils’ attitudes when they take part in Catholic Memorial’s program.

‘It leads to work informing, forming, and then ultimately transforming those students through that experience when

we as a school come together to talk about and bury someone who has died without family and friends,’ adds Folan.

‘Creating those complex connections between the brain and the heart is essentially the reason we are doing this.’