Country star posts powerful moment man prays for soldier at airport, photo goes viral

A country star used social media to track down a member of the United States Air Force that was part of a sweet moment she witnessed in a Las Vegas airport.

Singer Sunny Sweeney posted this photo of a man praying for a soldier's safety, calling the moment "beautiful" and saying it made her cry.

Sweeney said she would love it if the soldier pictured in the photo, whose name on his backpack can be seen to be "Michael," got to hold on to that memory by seeing the photo.

The power of social media struck again. A few short hours after the photo was posted, "Michael" revealed himself to be Michael Barth of Washington state. He told Sweeney in a comment that he is a huge country music fan but didn't realize who Sweeney was. He also said, "thank you for the picture I'll never forget it"

Along with the photo, Sweeney's original post included her thoughts on the moment:

"I watched this whole thing go down in an airport and felt like sharing it with you.

This young military man, Michael (full name was on his backpack) was standing here about to board a plane and a random man walked up and said thank you for your service. Then asked if he could pray for his safety. I started crying of course just watching this nice end to a crappy day unfold on my 16 hour cross country flight, but Americans never cease to amaze me. Beautiful.

I would love for this picture to find it's way to the man pictured here in uniform to show how many people are praying for you and wishing you good thoughts and safe travels."

The post itself has become a tribute to soldiers: It was flooded with comments of photos of loved ones, both living and dead, who have served in the armed forces. As of Monday, it has more than 30,000 comments.