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Children of fallen soldiers get touching national anthem tribute at Nashville airport

It was an emotional scene as the airport came to a standstill to pay tribute to more than 100 children of fallen soldiers.

The holiday travel season usually makes for a hectic experience at the nation's airports but on Saturday, Nashville travelers stopped in their tracks to honor the children of fallen soldiers with a touching tribute.

A Facebook video shows travelers at Nashville International Airport stop what they were doing and join in singing the national anthem as more than 100 children who lost a parent in combat boarded a plane to Disney World.

Jen Trinagle filmed the moment, noting that she had been taken aback by the sight of "an international airport (coming) to a complete stop."

"When they announced them over the loud speaker and they lined up to board the plane, " Trinagle wrote in her post, "the whole airport literally stopped and sang the national anthem with military present in salute."

Most every person standing around, myself included was bawling at the sight of these kids and spouses who have paid so great a price for our country," Trinagle continued.

"To see all of this at Christmas time was so humbling. Seeing the general public in an airport stand still to honor these kids was simply beautiful."

Each December, the Snowball Express, now under the auspices of actor Gary Sinise's charity, flies more than 1,000 Gold Star children from around the country to Disney World on American Air Lines flights.

According to the Gary Sinise Foundation's website, the "Forrest Gump" star says the goal of the Snowball Express program is for "our Gold Star families to feel remembered and for them to see that they are not alone. It's something I feel is incredibly important for our nation, letting the children know that we do not forget their sacrifices and we honor them. And it's such a great feeling to see them healing, smiling, and having fun."

USA Today's Jayme Deerwester contributed to this post.

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