The cashier bell rings and the laser tag reader beeps.

This is how Warren “Butch” Marion spent his last 16 years in one of Walmart’s branches. Day in and day out, he serves customers with all that he has, much like how he served the nation.

But Marion isn’t like any other employee. He’s 82 years old. He was supposed to be relaxing by the porch while greeting his neighbors. He shouldn’t be standing for hours just to make ends meet.

Marion said he has been working since he was 11.

And it was through the cashier lines of Walmart that he met a small business owner and TikTok celebrity.

Rory McCarty grabbed some batteries. What he thought was just an ordinary errand run, turned into a meeting of a lifetime.

He got into a line where an elderly man was helping customers check out. When it was his turn, he decided to chat with the old man.

McCarty couldn’t believe what he saw.

“I kind of looked up and I saw this little, older guy there at the register, just grinding. I’m just blown away, thinking man, oh, man. Look at this guy. He’s got to be in his 80s.” he said to NPR.

Marion has been working with Walmart for 16 years as a part-time staff. He spent the bulk of his working days with General Motors and Honeywell where he stayed for several decades.

Marion is also a veteran who served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years. And yet, here he is, still working his bones.

Marion incurred some debt that stopped him from retiring when he needed to.

The situation also prevented him from seeing his family in Florida. At that point, McCarty knew he had to do something for the man.

If he can’t shell it all out, then his hundreds of thousands of followers can because everything is possible when you have a community behind you.

Through his TikTok channel Bug Boys, he invited people for a fundraiser.

“Has anybody seen the videos where a guy raised 180g’s to help an 82-year-old Walmart employee retire? We ought to do that for Butch. Who would donate?” he said in his invite.

Watch on TikTok

Then, with Marion’s approval, McCarty and his followers got to work. They set up a donation drive to gather the funds.

In just two days, they’ve raised $100,000 and it just kept on going.

Finally, after 16 years of working, Marion can finally retire. The veteran said he will use the money to settle his debt and visit his family in Florida. He also plans to enjoy the rest of his days like visiting Cancun with his friends.

But it is not only financial aid that Marion got out of the experience. He also gained a friend for life.

“Out of all the people. I was the one that was chosen. And thank God for that. He’s the one that done it,” he said to NPR. “He’s the one that led Rory to me. So it’s a beautiful, beautiful experience.”

Watch how a business owner changed a veteran’s life when he helped him retire.

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Source: YouTube – FOX 5 Washington DC, NPR, BBC, TikTok – @bug_boys