Funeral Held For NJ Marine Killed In Military Plane Crash

click to expand

COLTS NECK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A Marine killed in a military plane crash in Mississippi has been laid to rest in New Jersey.

Dozens of mourners attended Tuesday's funeral for 20-year-old Cpl. Dan Baldassare, which was held at Colts Neck High School's football field. Baldassare had graduated from the school in 2015 and played on its football team for four years.

On Monday, firefighters raised a flag as a fleet of motorcycles escorted the coffin bearing his body through the streets of Freehold. Residents and veterans also lined the streets to honor him.

"We need to bring this individual home and give him the honors he deserves," said Chuck Bitner with the Trenton Marine Corps League. "He put his life on line to protect us. He deserves everything we can do for him."

Baldassare was among 15 Marines and a Navy sailor who died when the military transport plane slammed into soybean fields in the Mississippi Delta on July 10.

He was stationed at the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York.