He was a Purple Heart recipient who served in Vietnam, and now, strangers want to make sure he gets the funeral he deserves.
Richard Gary Black, 73, was shot and killed by an Aurora police officer early Monday morning while police were responding to multiple reports of an intruder at his home on East Montview Boulevard.
Moments before that, Black had killed a naked intruder who had busted down the front door of his family’s home and attacked his 11-year-old grandson.
Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz said he didn’t know why Black didn’t listen to officers’ orders to drop his gun, but said it’s possible he might not have heard.
This story has since made national news ... and it hit especially close to home for one Colorado man.
“I heard about this a couple of days ago, then it sunk in, but then when I sat down and listened to everything, the what happened and to be able to help this veteran and help his family,’ I think that most of us would really like to do that,” said Richard A. Reeves, a fellow Vietnam veteran who served with the 5th Marines.
He and other veterans from the American Legion Post 22 reached out to 9NEWS and said
they wanted to offer full military honors for Black’s funeral.
“It hit me in the heart, like it hit everybody else,” Reeves said. “We’d like to do what we can do.”
Black’s attorney connected Post 22 with the beloved husband, father and grandfather’s family.
And now, they’ll be helping to make sure that Black gets a full military funeral.
“It’s payback for me, all my Vietnam service,” Reeves said. “You know how it was in Vietnam, when most of us was in Vietnam, nobody really wants to speak of it. But nowadays, people really respect that. Now we can go to our man and respect him for it. And show him honor for it. And that’s what we like to do.
“ …. We want to help our veterans. That’s what it’s about.”
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