© 2026 ABC News

According to Douglas Gault, chief onsite representative of Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery, more than 1,000 people answered the call.

Luis Rodriguez heard about Walker’s service, and passed the funeral information to Wind Therapy Freedom Riders, a motorbike riding club he belongs to. He also contacted a local news station to spread the word.

After ABC station KVUE broke the story, Rodriguez said the invitation “took off like fire. Next thing you know we’re sitting here with thousands.” Senator Ted Cruz, CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Congressman John Carter all shared the invitation and support on their social media accounts.

\"PHOTO:
Freedom Riders
PHOTO: Luis Rodriguez with fellow funeral attendees. Photo by Luis Rodriquez on January 18th, 2019, Austin, Texas.
>

“This was the biggest service we have seen to date,” Gault told ABC News.

In addition to roughly 200 members of Freedom Riders, a motorcycle club, hundreds of law enforcement representatives, members of veteran organizations and people from all over the country attended Walker’s funeral, Rodriguez said.

“The traffic to get into the cemetery was so backed up, it was incredible,” Gault added.

The cemetery has been providing burials for veterans since the “Unaccompanied Veterans” program was established in 2015 by the Texas Land Commissioner’s Office to ensure all veterans receive a military burial service. Prior to that, an unaccompanied veteran’s funeral was arranged by a county judge.

Joseph Walker served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War according to his obituary, and died on Nov. 19, 2018, at the age of 72.

Gault said due to the media attention, the cemetery was able to find two of Walker’s family members at the last minute, who were present for part of the service.

Rodriguez called the experience “humbling and an honor.”

“Because of him, so many friendships were built today, I’m sure he’s looking down at us rejoicing,” Rodriguez said.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/US/1000-mourners-attend-funeral-unaccompanied-veteran/story?id=60675971","legacySlug":"/news/story/1000-mourners-attend-funeral-unaccompanied-veteran-60675971","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"23:05","publishDate":"01-28-2019","updatedTime":"14:27","updatedDate":"01-29-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"People attend the funeral for veteran Joseph Walker, Jan. 28, 2019, in Texas.","credit":"Texas Veterans Land Board","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/veteran-funeral-bikers-ht-jef-190128_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"1/28/2019 23:05:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":60675971,"headline":"More than 1,000 attend funeral of lone veteran","mediaAssetTitle":"BIKERS FOR VETERAN","description":"The attendees included hundreds of motorcycle club members. ","duration":"1:30","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/01/190128_wn_ender_657_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["134977845","134871343","134611251"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"July 22, 2026","headline":"Malcolm-Jamal Warner's widow sues his mother after drowning death","section":"News","slug":"/video/134977845","id":"134977845","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Malcolm-Jamal Warner's widow sues his mother after drowning death","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Malcolm-Jamal Warner's widow sues his mother after drowning death","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260722_gma_norwood_warner1_734_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"July 18, 2026","headline":"New NASA images show Mars in motion","section":"News","slug":"/video/134871343","id":"134871343","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: New NASA images show Mars in motion","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: New NASA images show Mars in motion","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260718_gma_play_mars3_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"July 9, 2026","headline":"Family speaks out after man died in ICE shooting in Texas","section":"News","slug":"/video/134611251","id":"134611251","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Family speaks out after man died in ICE shooting in Texas","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Family speaks out after man died in ICE shooting in Texas","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260709_gma_quinones_ice1_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"More than 1,000 attend funeral of lone veteran","description":"The attendees included hundreds of motorcycle club members. ","duration":"1:30","uploadDate":"01-28-2019","publication":"01-28-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/01/190128_wn_ender_657_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/01/190128_wn_ender_657_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/1000-mourners-attend-funeral-unaccompanied-veteran-60675971"}},"playlist":[{"id":"134959102","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134926667","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134910526","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134846473","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134848966","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134761751","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134787741","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134782596","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134741027","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134751717","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134708317","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134548164","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134542058","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134416060","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134443994","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134406623","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134358132","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134353508","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134335187","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134334942","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"More than 1,000 attend funeral of lone veteran","pubTime":"18:05","pubDate":"01-28-2019","modTime":"09:27","modDate":"01-29-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":60675971,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"More than 1,000 attend funeral of lone veteran","mediaAssetTitle":"BIKERS FOR VETERAN","videoId":60675971,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/1000-mourners-attend-funeral-unaccompanied-veteran-60675971"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/60675971","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/60675971","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};