A veteran died alone, so hundreds of strangers showed up to honor him at his military funeral
"This veteran has no immediate family. All are welcome to attend."

Edward Pearson was born in Pennsylvania on April 23, 1939 and he lived on a farm. He served in the U.S. Army from 1962 and 1964.
He was married once, divorced once, and had no children. He spent that last 25 years of his living in Naples, Florida where he was beloved at his local Publix grocery store.
The last few years of his life were hard for Pearson. He lived in a trailer that was damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017. His kitchen leaked and the trailer was filled with mold.
He attempted to get it fixed through a government program called Rebuild Florida, but the repairs were delayed due to problems with the title on the trailer — there wasn't any. He had been scammed by the seller.
RELATED: He was a homeless veteran. Karis Village offered him not just a home, but a community.
A customer service representative for the Collier County Tax Collector's office shared his story on social media and people came to his aid, fixing his trailer and giving him $1600.
In July, the title on his trailer was secured, but he passed away on August 31 at the age of 80.
Legacy Options Funeral and Cremation posted a small obituary when he died, announcing his funeral will be held at Sarasota National Cemetery on Oct. 1 at 12:30 p.m. The last line said: "This veteran has no immediate family. All are welcome to attend."
News of Pearson's funeral went viral after it was shared by CNN's Jake Tapper and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA!!!
Veteran Edward K. Pearson just passed away at age 80.
He has NO immediate family to come to his funeral, so the public is invited to attend.
Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 12:30 p.m. at the Sarasota National Cemetery, 9810 State Road 72
https://t.co/naEaWQEjgN
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 29, 2019
On Tuesday, October 1, hundreds of people showed up to the Sarasota National Cemetery for his service featuring military honors, including the playing of bugle call "Taps" along with the U.S. flag folding and presentation.
People from all over Florida are here for the funeral of an Army veteran who died alone. #EdwardPearson pic.twitter.com/xpcOmJy5z2
— Carlos R. Munoz 📰 (@ReadCarlos) October 1, 2019
People who never met Pearson spoke on his behalf. "I heard about Mr. Pearson Facebook, and that he had no family to attend his service and I thought there couldn't be a better way to spend a day then to come and honor this man," one man said.
Pearson's neighbor was able to share how he'd react to such an outpouring of love. "If Ed were here today and saw this service, he'd cry, he'd laugh and he'd salute," she said.
RELATED: Veteran with PTSD writes powerful book 'Why is Dad So Mad?' to help explain the disorder to his young daughter.
A military sergeant stood up at the podium and read poem for Pearson.
Archie Sanders came to stand up for a member of the "brotherhood."
Archie Sanders talks about the military “brotherhood" #veteran #edwardpearson pic.twitter.com/VXKCfBjUeI
— Carlos R. Munoz 📰 (@ReadCarlos) October 1, 2019
You can watch the entire service below.
- Obituary for Edward "Pudge" Pearson | Phalen Funeral Home ›
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- Funeral of Naples veteran Edward K. Pearson in Sarasota | Watch ... ›
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- The story of veteran Edward Pearson, whose funeral notice went viral ›
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."