Procession, vigil to honor fallen Marine ahead of burial
LEOMINSTER, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts Marine killed last month in a training drill in Norway will be honored with a procession and a vigil this weekend as his body returns to his hometown.
The Leominster Department of Veterans’ Services said Friday the body of Marine Captain Ross Reynolds is expected to arrive in the city on Saturday afternoon between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. after being flown into Logan Airport in Boston. Residents are encouraged to line the streets along the route to honor the fallen soldier.
A candlelight vigil will then be held at 7 p.m. Sunday at Leominster City Hall.
And a public wake will be held Monday afternoon at city hall. The funeral Mass will be held at St. Cecilia’s Church Tuesday morning and also be broadcast live at city hall.
The burial at the Massachusetts Memorial Veterans’ Cemetery in Winchendon will be private.
Reynolds, a 27-year-old Osprey pilot joined the Marines in 2017, was one of four Marines killed when their aircraft crashed during a NATO drill on March 18 in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but Norwegian police reported bad weather in the area. Officials in Norway said the MV-22B Osprey crashed in Graetaedalen in Beiarn, south of Bodoe.
The men were all assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, Marine Aircraft Group 26, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing stationed at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina.