Choir sings spontaneous song in tribute to fallen WW2 soldier on plane home

The high school students sang the Civil War-era song to honour the soldier's memory

It is common practice for fallen American soldiers of the Second World War to be escorted back to the United States - but few of them get such a send-off almost three quarters of a century later.

A choir on a plane broke out in a spontaneous tribute of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” to honour a soldier whose remains were being escorted home from Germany to Houston by an army private.

After landing, the pilot said the army private would be let off the plane first.

When they heard of the news, a high school choir from Iowa, which had been on tour in Europe, stood up and sang the song in tribute to the soldier.

Passenger Diane Hollifield Cupp from Tennessee had been on holiday with her husband, touring sites related to the Second World War.

She captured the video of the song on her phone and uploaded it to Facebook. It quickly spread online and has gained more than 200,000 views.

“Listen how beautiful! Will bring a tear to your eye,” she wrote in the Facebook post.

“It was absolutely beautiful, to see the respect that these kids had, I just had to capture it,” Ms Cupp told WFTV.

“It was an awesome treat for me and something I will never forget," she added.

One comment read: “What a wonderful final send off for this brave soldier who bravely fell no doubt in battle!”

Another Facebook user, Wendy Graham, said she got “goosebumps and tears” after watching the video.