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 met him seven years ago when she started to visit veterans at Rocky Mountain Care Center.
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 through.
“Courage, big heart, his big smile. He has such a horrible life, but he was a fighter, a survivor,” Hartman said.
