Geri Perna@GeriPerna
Matthew Perna’s funeral was attended by people who traveled from several states, many of whom had never met him in person. Some only knew him through Facebook. His online guest book received more than 10,000 entries from people all over the world, yet not one came from a member of Congress.
The funeral home said they had never received so many flowers before. Many were sent by complete strangers.
An honor guard from Ohio asked permission to stand watch at Matthew’s casket during the viewing and funeral. At first, we were confused because Matthew was not a veteran.
Two guards came. During the funeral, they performed a flag-folding ceremony and handed the flag to my brother. We were still confused, so afterward we asked why they had done this, since Matthew had never served in the military.
They told us that if they had been allowed to give him a 21-gun salute, they would have. They said they had heard Matthew’s story, and of all the funerals they had ever stood guard for, he was the most patriotic men they had ever honored.