Brothers and strangers: Community of veterans ensure none of their own go out alone

GILLETTE - Clarence Barry followed the white hearse past the half-staff flag and up the hill that climbs through the entry gate of Mount Pisgah Cemetery.

He knew almost nothing about the man lying in the hearse before him.

Like the handful of veterans who Barry invited to the service Tuesday morning, he didn't know where the man was from, or how he got to Gillette. He didn't know whether the man had ever been married, or what kind of life he lived after his military service.

Barry didn't even know what branch of the military the man had served in.

"All I can tell you is his name is Mr. Babbs,"...