From Fox News: More than $1.7 million has been raised to help an Army veteran retire after his story went viral online and a GoFundMe drew thousands of donations from strangers.
Australian social media influencer Sam Weidenhofer first learned about Edmund Bambas, 88, from a comment on one of his videos. Weidenhofer then worked with influencer Mike McKinstry to track the veteran down at the Meijer supermarket in Brighton, Michigan, where he works, WXYZ Detroit reported.
Bambas, who served in the U.S. Army in 1966, explained that he retired from General Motors in 1999, but everything changed when the automaker filed for bankruptcy years later.
The emotional social media moment started when Weidenhofer visited Bambas at work, telling him his coworkers had nominated him for help, saying he was a hard worker.
“May I ask how old you are?” Weidenhofer asks Bambas in the video.
“I’m 88 years old,” Bambas said.
“Why do you have to keep working?” Weidenhofer asked.
“I retired from General Motors in [1999],” Bambas says. “In 2012, they went bankrupt, and they took my pension away from me.”
“The thing that hurt me the most was my wife was real sick, and when they took the pension, they also took the health care coverage and all but $10,000 of my life insurance,” Bambas added, “So, I sold the house, sold the property I had and we made it through.”
Sadly, Bambas‘ wife has since passed away.
After Weidenhofer posted the video to social media and launched a GoFundMe to support Bambas’ retirement, the fundraiser raised over $1.7 million, driven by more than 62,000 donations.
WATCH:
NEW: Internet users raise over $1.2M for an 88-year-old US Army veteran to help him retire after his pension was wiped out.
Ed Bambas lost his wife 7 years ago and is now working 40 hours a week to make ends meet.
Bambas retired from General Motors in 1999, expecting to have… pic.twitter.com/tKkIys1rvT
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 3, 2025
Ed Bambas spent his life chasing the American dream, only to return to work at 82 after losing his pension and his wife. A stranger’s simple question, “What’s your dream?” sparked a wave of generosity that raised more than $1.6 million to restore his retirement. pic.twitter.com/si6TCbYNe0
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) December 5, 2025
An 88-year-old Michigan veteran is finally retiring — thanks to $1.7 million in donations from strangers worldwide.
Ed Bambas’ story went viral after Australian influencer Sam Weidenhofer flew 9,000 miles to meet him and launch a fundraiser.
Bambas calls it “the stuff dreams… pic.twitter.com/bQQ2ZRuDGL
— ABC News (@ABC) December 6, 2025
Read more at Fox News
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