Lancaster, Kentucky. Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of a local man. But none of them were his friends or family. In fact, none of them knew the deceased at all…

The strangers arrived to celebrate the life of 66 year-old forces vet Don Kaas after Lancaster Funeral Home owner Shane Young decided to post about it on Facebook. He’d been unable to locate any of Kaas’ family and tried via the social network. But on the day? Many of those that heard the story decided to turn up and pay their respects.

800 people ended up turning up to the funeral of the former sailor. It was quite a spectacular scene in the end. From what little is known about Kaas, he was said to be a quiet but polite man. With no family and few friends. He was a lover of dogs and horses and had an exemplary military career.

“I’m very proud of our small little community. … With all the bad things that happen in the world, everybody’s ready to latch onto a good, wholesome story and just run with it,” Shane said about what had happened. And we couldn’t agree more.