Lonely World War Two hero becomes Facebook legend after post about his life goes viral
Social media post about Ted Fullerton, 96, has been shared almost 90,000 times
A LONELY war veteran is a hero again — on Facebook.
Ted Fullerton, 96, served with the RAF in Burma during World War Two and wears his medals with pride.
But the widower didn’t think anyone was interested in his life, until a post about him went viral.
Ben Lopez, 28, a bar manager at Ted’s local, put his picture on Facebook and introduced him to users.
He wrote: “He came into my pub today for dinner.
“I couldn’t help notice the medals on his chest and ask him about his life and say thank you for serving our country.
“He became really overwhelmed and cried. He said ‘thank you young man no one cares about what I have to say any more’.”
The post has been viewed more than 200,000 times, shared nearly 90,000 times and had 53,000 comments.
Ted, who is blind in one eye, had never heard of Facebook.
He said: “I’m delighted and amazed that people from all over the world now know who I am — and I know people really do care.”
Ben, who works at Duke of Cumberland, in Cottingham, East Yorks, said: “We’re getting people messaging him from the USA and New Zealand. A lot of people want to meet Ted.”
Ted joined the RAF at 18. He wanted to be a pilot but served as an engineer, keeping planes airworthy. His wife Irene died in 2004.