CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — As the country honored the life of former President George H.W. Bush this week, a Bay area native was one of the people helping to make sure those tributes last forever. 

The photos the Citrus High School Graduate captured while President George H.W. Bush was lying in state will go down in history.  The images of President George H.W. Bush's funeral will one day be in American history books and military archives. 

"I never thought that I would have a chance to document something like that," Army Private Julie Driver said. 

Private Driver was one of the photographers behind the lens. 

"I puylled a 12-hour shift when he was lying in state in the Rotunda at the State Capitol. I documented as people came through," she said. "I didn't think there would be that many people to be honest. Like at 3 and 4 in the morning there were just people coming in, coming in, coming in."

The 20-year-old from Citrus County enlisted in the Army in 2016. Her mom, Lori, couldn't be more proud to see her daughter documenting history. 

"I'm gonna get teary, it's emotional, it's very exciting," Lori said. "To know that she was a part of that and she was there and she was taking these photos and was that close to the event itself, that's big." 

The 2016 Citrus High School graduate is also making her Alma Matter proud, too.  Her English teacher David Philipson also teaches history. 

"President Bush being a WWII veteran, all these things combined, my former student in the military documenting it for history, I mean it doesn't get more historic and beautiful than that," Philipson said. 

Those beautiful moments that Private Driver was honored to capture will forever live in history. 

"It feels amazing to know that something I'm doing, it matters," Driver said.