Family, Friends To Say Goodbye To Fallen Beaver Co. Airman At Public Memorial Service
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
HOOKSTOWN, Pa. (AP/KDKA) -- Friends and family are getting the chance to pay their respects to U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin today at a public memorial service.
The service, which is open to the public, was being held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Impact Christian Chapel, in Moon Township. Then, an official service will begin at 4 p.m.
Elchin's family requested an escort from their home in Chippewa to Impact Christian Chapel by the Patriot Guard Riders.
WATCH: Patriot Guard Riders Procession --
Members of the Beaver Falls Fire Department were also among those in the procession. At one point, it passed under a 20-foot-by-60-foot flag.
"There's going to be departments putting ladder trucks up across all the bridges along 376 until Moon," Bill Cummings, with the Beaver Falls Fire Department, said.
Due to strict military rules, Elchin's body is not returning to Beaver County for the memorial service. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
But, since Elchin was a 2012 graduate of Hopewell Area High School, his family wanted everyone in the community to have the chance to say goodbye.
RELATED LINKS:
- EXCLUSIVE: Mom Told Fallen Airman Before His Deployment To Afghanistan, 'If Anything Happens To You, It Will Destroy Me'
- Beaver Co. Airman Killed In Afghanistan Brought Back Home To United States
- Export Soldier Who Received 2 Purple Hearts, Dies From Injuries Sustained In IED Explosion
Elchin, along with two other service members, were killed in Afghanistan at the end of November when a roadside bomb exploded.
A fourth soldier, Sgt. Jason McClary, from Export, Westmoreland County, died from his injuries this week at a hospital in Germany.
Stay with KDKA for continuing coverage of Elchin's memorial service.
(TM and © Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)