Just when you think humanity might have fallen into some sort of evil abyss …

Something really heart-warming occurs.

Andrew Moore lived alone. He had no family. Apparently he had few friends. He died in December. His body lay unclaimed for months.

Then, according to the Washington Post, some neighbors where he had lived in an apartment complex decided that the 89-year-old World War II veteran needed a proper burial. So they arranged to have his remains interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Moore was granted a burial fit for a hero. With full military honors.

As the Post reported: “Moore was given a hero’s sendoff at Arlington National Cemetery. A uniformed honor guard escorted Moore’s flag-covered remains. In place of a silent goodbye, a bugler played taps and three volleys of rifle fire marked his passing.”

This man apparently had left no will, no instructions on what should happen to his remains when he died. He was a pensioner who never married or brought children into this world.

His neighbors were able to determine he had served in the Navy during the war, with a brief tour in the Philippines; he later served in the Coast Guard.

Moore reportedly had quite the gift of gab. The Post reports that he was known to detain the mail carrier for 30 minutes or longer to talk about football. The paper also reported that Moore shared little about himself, his story, his history.

Bill Sheppard and Nick Addams, two of Moore’s neighbors, were saddened at the man’s death. The two of them managed to raise the funds required for the burial. Moore’s remains were cremated and Sheppard and Addams then made all the arrangements to have the ceremony take place at Arlington, where general-grade officers lay next to statesmen, astronauts and thousands of others who have died in service to their country.

This lonely man, though, also needed a proper sendoff once he left this world, his neighbors determined. They made sure he got it.

Goodness, it is clear, still can be found among us.

Rest in peace, Andrew Moore.

Thank you for service to this nation. Thanks, also, to the generous spirit of this man’s neighbors who felt move to give him the honor he deserves.