There’s A New Way To Honor Military Service

Memorializing and honoring military service is as old of a notion as the military itself. We honor those loved ones who serve, we memorialize acts of valor, and we offer tribute to those who give their lives in the line of duty.

But how have these timeless traditions been impacted by rapid changes in communications and technology? There’s a new company, Tribute, working to offer a touching new way to celebrate a loved one.

Here’s the gist — Tribute compiles short video clips from the friends and family members of the person being honored. The result is a stunning display of love and adoration in montage form.

We spoke with Tribute’s founder and chief executive, Andrew Horn, on why his product would make a good gift for the military community.

“I think the military community is so strong because it is based around a shared sense of service and a deep commitment to supporting one another,” said Horn, himself the son of a career Navy veteran. “We believe that giving tribute is one of the best things you can do to support the people you care about.”

Horn said that Tribute is most naturally given in times of celebration. For the military community, that can mean graduation from boot camp or commissioning ceremonies, in recognition of promotion, separation or retirement, or when a loved one returns from deployment.

But Tribute is a good way to celebrate life, making it additionally a good way to memorialize the fallen to their loved ones and families.

“The tribute can serve as a tool to help them remember their loved one in their best light, long after they are gone.”

This happened recently at a personal level for Horn. A friend of his, Dan Fredinburg, a Google executive, died in the recent earthquake in Nepal while climbing Mount Everest.

“His death was hard for me and in the days after his passing, I was struggling with the grief and not knowing what I should do,” Horn said. “After taking some time to process, I began to feel like the best thing I could do to honor my fallen friend was to share his story and tell the world about the impact he had on me.”

The resulting Tribute video is embedded below.

“Tribute helps you tell the story of the departed from the perspective of everyone who has been impacted by them,” Horn said. “It makes it a little easier for friends and family to share the authentic messages of gratitude and appreciation that deserve to be remembered.”

In recognition of Memorial Day, Tribute is offering a 50% discount under the promocode “taskandpurpose” available through May 31. Find it at Tribute.co.