santa, to boot. something mayfield, kentucky, is witnessing first-hand, where just 13 days ago, a tornado upended lives and minimally put a damper on the holidays. i ve been deployed three times, and i ve seen the worst. it was just absolute war zone destruction everywhere. reporter: triplett rushed to mayfield to see how he could help. traveling around the city before stopping by a shelter. i saw this boy, about 6 or 7 years old, and he s crying in his mom s arms and she s trying to compose herself. and she could gather and, you know, he told her, he said, i lost my christmas. and it really hit me. reporter: after he posted this picture from inside a damaged movie theatre, it went viral. i reached out to my social media, friends and family and said, let s get to work. and so we started raising money. reporter: support for his holiday mission came pouring in from all over the world. in just over a week, he s raised nearly ly $95,000