Hundreds of people lined the streets in Sour Lake on a wet Tuesday afternoon to pay tribute to the family of Leston “Tony” Winters, a Hardin-Jefferson graduate who was killed while on active military duty in Afghanistan this past week.

Winters, 30, was an Army medic. Military reports show he was killed by an improvised explosive device on Thursday, July 15, in the Zhari district of Afghanistan.

A parade of Patriot Guard Riders gathered at Sour Lake Elementary School as residents and well-wishers gathered along the parade route. At the family home, friends and family comforted each other as the motorcycles slowly passed by.

One by one they climbed into their vehicles and joined the parade.

Veterans, patriots, neighbors, men, women and children stood silent as the vehicles made their way through the streets of the town. Some held a flag. Some saluted. Others covered their hearts to honor the hometown man who had made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

The motorcade then continued on to the First Baptist Church in Sour Lake. The damp air was quiet as Winters loved ones filed into the church for a memorial service. The body of Winters was not at the church. He will likely be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

Winters, who was in the midst of his third tour of duty, is survived by his wife and three children. The family recently moved to Tennessee after Winters was stationed in Kentucky.