LEOMINSTER, Mass. (AP) — The body of a Marine officer killed last month during a NATO training exercise in Norway was returned Saturday to his home in Massachusetts.
A plane carrying the remains of Capt. Ross Reynolds landed at Logan International Airport in Boston, where it was met by his family and Gov. Charlie Baker.
Six Marines loaded the casket into a hearse, which was then escorted to his hometown of Leominster, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Boston. Hundreds of city residents, many of them bearing U.S. and Marine Corps flags, lined the streets as the hearse made its way to a funeral home in neighboring Fitchburg.
“He was a first-class kid from a great family, and he just wanted a chance to serve,” Baker said.
Reynolds, a 27-year-old Osprey pilot who joined the Marines in 2017, was one of four Marines killed when their aircraft crashed March 18 during a NATO drill in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle.
The others who died were Capt. Matthew Tomkiewicz, of Fort Wayne, Indiana.; Gunnery Sgt. James Speedy, of Cambridge, Ohio; and Cpl. Jacob Moore, of Catlettsburg, Kentucky.
Reynolds, who just got married in February, was an Eagle Scout who graduated from Leominster High School and Worcester State University. He will be honored at a candlelight vigil at 7 p.m. Sunday at Leominster City Hall.
A public wake is scheduled for Monday afternoon at city hall. The funeral Mass will be held at St. Cecilia’s Church on Tuesday. The burial at the Massachusetts Memorial Veterans’ Cemetery in Winchendon will be private.
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.