SAN ANTONIO – An Air Force veteran born and raised in San Antonio was hit by a car and killed in Corpus Christi Tuesday.
Jerry Knight Jr. was being a good Samaritan, helping direct traffic after an accident when he was killed.
"No parent should bury their kids," Jerry Knight Sr. said through tears.
Through the pain, he shared stories about his son. They not only share the same name, but a love for their country and a pride in serving it.
"He graduated from Judson in '91 and went straight into the Air Force. He spent six years in the Air Force. He went to Iraq, Korea (and) Germany. He was in explosive ordinance disposal so he blew up bombs for a living," Knight Sr. said.
It was a dangerous job that his family, steeped in military tradition, knew well.
"His grandfather spent 42 years in the service. I did 20. My wife did 2 1/2. So the whole danger thing with the military, we understand. Something like this, we don't."
Tuesday Knight Jr. was driving an 18-wheeler through Corpus Christi, for his job at Liberty Tire Recycling. His job took him all over Texas.
"He loved driving trucks. Loved it," his father said. "They were doing their normal pickup and a car spun out hit the wall in front of them. So they stopped the 18 wheeler and blocked traffic."
While Knight was blocking the accident and directing traffic, a 19-year-old woman in a Jeep hit him.
"She was going at least 70 mph. She hit him and drug him. He was dead instantly," his father said.
Knight Sr. says it was like his son to put himself in danger to help others.
"He could have went on around and not done anything but no, he stopped to help. He was just big hearted and he loved helping people," he said.
That big heart will be loved and remembered most by his parents, and three teenage children.
Knight Jr. will be buried at Ft. Sam Houston cemetery on April 22. His trucking company has offered to pay for the funeral, something Knight Sr. said for which he is beyond grateful.