Hundreds gather to honor fallen Rockford-area U.S. Marine Cpl. Nathan Carlson

LOVES PARK — People across northern Illinois helped give U.S. Marine Cpl. Nathan Carlson a hero's welcome home Thursday evening as Carlson's family traveled with Carlson's remains from O'Hare International Airport to Loves Park City Hall.

All along the route, area residents, members of the armed services and law enforcement officers and emergency services workers lined overpasses to show their support for Carlson and his family.

The 21-year-old Marine from Machesney Parwas killed during a military training exercise June 8. The Osprey aircraft crew chief died with four other Marines when the hybrid airplane and helicopter crashed in the California desert near the Arizona border.

Carlson was a 2019 Harlem High School graduate.