Memorial Day is a special moment in the year when people remember their loved ones who have served their country and visit them in their final resting places. And while Sarah Lee and her family are not acquainted with all the fallen heroes in the cemetery, their group has a tradition of putting U.S. flags on the graves.
She and her family were in Wilmington National Cemetery to put flags on the graves on Memorial Day and just as they were walking around to do so, her 7-year-old son Mason suddenly went out of her sight.
She looked around for the little boy and finally found him beside a headstone, one that belonged to Sgt. TJ Butler.
As soon as she approached him, the kid started to ask a lot of questions about the fallen hero.
“Mason had a lot of questions. He wanted to know if he had a son and a family, and wanted to know more about him,” she told WECT News. “It was really touching because you could tell he was really soaking it all in. That this was somebody’s son, somebody’s daddy.”
Sarah found it unexpected that her young son took an interest in a man he never even knew.
A year later, their family went back to the cemetery to do their yearly tradition of putting out flags.
Even after all the time they never went to the cemetery, Mason found his way back towards Sgt. TJ Butler’s grave. It was unbelievable for Sarah to realize that her son did not forget the fallen hero.
“It must have made a huge impact on him to be that young and remember something like that,” Sarah said.
That year, Mason wanted to do something special for Sgt. TJ Butler, so he pulled out a paper and a pen and drew an image for the war hero. The young boy drew an American flag and a shield just like the one handled by Captain America.
He put the piece of paper inside a Ziplock plastic bag so that it wouldn’t be damaged by the rain. He left the special art piece on the gravesite and left.
When Leslie Butler found the note, she felt quite glad that someone remembered her son who lost his life serving his country.
She soon had an opportunity to meet Mason and personally thanked him for his amazing note. In return, she also gave him a gift: his own Captain America toy.
Sgt. Butler lost his life in Afghanistan in 2012. His mom is happy to know that even after his death, it seems that her son still strikes people as a friendly person, just like how people knew him back when he was a little boy.
“TJ’s teachers all his life called him a social butterfly. So I’m thinking he still is a social butterfly,” Leslie told WECT News. “For Mason’s age, I thought it was very special that he came down and visited TJ.”
Young Mason still plans to visit and put flags on Sgt. TJ Butler’s grave the following year. And it is something that Leslie is glad about.
“As long as Mason is here, he’ll place his flag here I can be happy that I know that Mason’s going to give TJ his flag,” Leslie said.
Find out more about this heartwarming story by clicking the play button on the video below!
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