During his 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, longtime Bowling Green resident Eugene Gayle Herron served his country and served it well, earning the rank of technical sergeant.

Sadly, when Herron died, his final wish – which included a burial service with full military honors, including a gun salute – was reduced to stunning silence.

Standing with family and friends during Herron’s memorial service Jan. 26 at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central at Fort Knox, his wife, Marlina Herron, still fully expected to hear the gun salute. But all was silent, and she soon realized the unit that was supposed to conduct the salute was not present.

“It was embarrassing for me and my family that we were waiting there for the gun salute and it did not happen,” she told Daily News reporter John Reecer with tears in her eyes. “I was heartbroken and disappointed. That was No. 1 on the list my husband wanted done.”

The veteran’s final wish had not been granted, but the story didn’t end there, thanks to perseverance and a fighting spirit from Marlina Herron.

“I want my husband to be honored. He deserves to be honored,” Marlina Herron said. “He served his country for 20 years. I’m fighting for the honor of my husband because of his service to his country. I’m faithfully devoted to him. That was his request – to fight for him if things weren’t done right.”

She first sought answers as to why the gun salute wasn’t done for her husband and learned the unit that does those salutes had been at another graveside service for an active-duty soldier at the time. The military and the funeral home that helped with her husband’s initial service blamed “miscommunication” as to why the family wasn’t notified the gun salute was not going to happen, she said.

Understandably not satisfied with those excuses, Marlina Herron wanted another service featuring the gun salute Eugene Herron had requested.

A military officer finally agreed to host another service at Fort Knox. A friend then recommended Cone Funeral Home in Bowling Green to help redo the service since it’s veteran-owned.

Cone Funeral Home’s Mandy-Jo Uhls sat down and heard Marlina Herron’s story and immediately went to work. She spent the next four hours on the phone planning a second service that included the gun salute.

“I thought ‘Oh my god, this woman is so patient,’ ” Marlina Herron said. “She told me she would find a way to fulfill my request. She was wonderful. I only asked for two veterans to do the salute, and she found a whole team of seven to do it.”

Uhls was among those at the Fort Knox cemetery Feb. 7 when Eugene Herron was finally granted his last wish – guns were fired over his grave.

“It was very heartfelt and emotional,” Uhls said. “You could just tell she was very grateful for everybody that was there. The best way I can describe it – it felt like I had completed a task and a wish for her and her husband. Whenever those guns fired, you could just see on her face the relief. I feel like I have made a lifelong friend because we talk every day now.”

For Marlina Herron, the second service and gun salute were “perfectly done.”

“It was a wonderful day,” she said. “God answered my prayers about the weather, and my divine request was answered. This is how God works if you just believe in him. God allowed it to happen.”

It’s sad that it took so long to get the gun salute done, but we are glad for the happy ending that the veteran and his family wanted and deserved.

For two decades, Eugene Herron served our nation and served it well. In fulfilling his final wish, Marlina Herron served her husband and served him well.