Public Memorial Service To Be Held For Fallen Beaver Co. Airman
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MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- A memorial service for 25-year-old Air Force Staff Sergeant Dylan Elchin will take place Thursday afternoon at the Impact Christian Chapel.
Elchin was killed in Afghanistan at the end of November when a roadside bomb exploded.
Family and friends will get the chance to pay their respects and say goodbye to Elchin from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. A memorial service will begin at 4 p.m.
Since Elchin was a 2012 graduate of Hopewell Area High School, his family wanted everyone to have the chance to attend.
"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.
Members of the Beaver Falls Fire Department will be among those in the procession. At one point, they will have a 20-foot-by-60-foot flag for all along the route to see.
"If we have two ladder trucks, we hang it between the two tips of each ladder across the road ... We're gonna be set up at the entrance to 376 westbound in Chippewa and Route 51," Cummings said.
Elchin's body was returned to the U.S. last week, but not to Beaver County. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Elchin's family requested an escort from their home in Chippewa to Impact Christian chapel by the Patriot Guard Riders.
The group was formed in 2005 and consists of motorcycle riders whose motto is "standing for those who stood for us."
"For us, it is a pride thing. We have several of our members that are involved in the military or past military members. One was actually severely injured last year," Cummings said.
The memorial service will be open to the public.
