The Tennessee Department of Transportation honored one of their own who was killed while on the side of the road helping change a tire.
The fresh coating of white snow, provided a chillingly somber backdrop, as one by one the green Fords crested the hill on Briley Parkway - not the way any of these TDOT Help Truck drivers envisioned spending this snow day.
"We're here to honor J.R. , it's not about the trucks and lights, we're trying to honor JR a real hero," said TDOT employee Louis Friedmann.
A hero, that's how J.R. Rogers is being remembered. On Christmas Eve he was helping a driver change a flat tire. Moments after telling that driver to get back into their car, he was hit.
"It didn't have to happen if folks would just slow down, you see the lights just slow down," Friedmann added.
Close to 100 Help Trucks said goodbye to J.R. in the most fitting way possible, by leading his funeral procession from Nashville to Pleasant View. Their lights a reminder to other drivers that J.R.'s is the 112th TDOT life lost since 1948.
The 29-year-old was on the job just eight months. He was a beloved football coach in Cheatham County and a loving father to a little boy.
"It's devastating," Friedmann said.
On this snow day, a final farewell, to a man who loved helping others and died doing just that.
For details on a fund for J.R., visit the family's gofundme page.
