Young soldier was all alone during his graduation ceremony—then a stranger stepped up with a kind gesture
Strangers might step up for people in the most astounding ways. A young man also needed some support during his graduation ceremony as a soldier. He ended up getting it from the most unexpected person. A complete stranger noticed that the young soldier was standing all alone for his graduation ceremony and no one was showing up for him. So the woman, Mariah, walked up to the soldier and made a sweet gesture that left him in tears. The heartwarming moment was shared by Mariah's wife, Liz Hernandez, who goes by @lizhernandez_31 on TikTok. The brief clip received over 28.5 million views.
"When my wife taps out a young soldier she's never met because no one was showing up for him," the text overlay of the video read. In the clip, Mariah could be seen talking to the young soldier briefly before she placed a cord on his shoulder and tapped him out. The man was in tears as the woman finished putting the cord on him. He wiped his eyes a little as the video ended. Liz wrote for her wife, "I know so many people misunderstand who you are, but I know how big your heart is and I will always love you for you." The ceremony was almost at the end when Mariah went to put the cord on the soldier, per PEOPLE. Usually, a person's near and dear ones put the cord on them.
@lizhernandez_31 I know so many people misunderstand who you are but I know how big your heart is and I will always love you for you ♥️ @mariah. 🫶🏽#armygraduation#fortbenning#army#infantry#tapout#soldier#airborne#fortmoore#unitedstatesofamerica🇺🇸 ♬ Home - Matthew Hall
"I just wanted to keep the video to myself. But I was like, 'You know what? I'm going to post it because I want to show other people that she’s really misunderstood — she's really a good person,'" Liz told the outlet. "She's an introvert, so she’s not really like, out there like that." Mariah expressed, "What went through my mind was it was really sad that no one was there to have that moment with him." So she walked up to the soldier and asked if he would let her tap him out. "And other people were seeing him be alone as well, but no one was doing anything about it. I asked his permission — I asked for his consent — and he nodded."
Mariah, whose dad is also in the military, felt the deep need to be there for the soldier. "My dad is military and whenever we got out of the ceremony, I texted him. I said, 'Hey, was anyone there for your ceremony to tap you out?' He said he didn't have a tap-out ceremony. And I was like, okay, good, because I probably would have cried every night just thinking about him not getting tapped out." The woman also asked the soldier for a hug as she left the ceremony with her wife. People shared their thoughts on the sweet moment in the comments section of the video.
@monv0172 wrote, "Many foster children go into the military once they age out of the system because they have no family. Kindness is priceless." @sarahbispy commented, "Whoever this soldier is…I hope he knows that he has thousands and thousands of people so, so proud of him!" @auntielissa2525 remarked, "My parents once did a free program to adopt soldiers for one Thanksgiving and they came back for several years afterwards. Each year, bringing more of whose family members who were too far away. Now my parents have a bunch of extra kids who call them mom and dad, lol." In another video, Liz shared that they were at the ceremony for her brother, Juan, who was also graduating as a soldier.
@lizhernandez_31 First generation to enlist in the Army, @Juan ;) baby bro a baddie 🫡🙂↔️ #fortmoore#army#airborne#georgia#graduation#unitedstatesarmy ♬ suono originale - _FortuX.
You can follow Liz Hernandez (lizhernandez_31) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.