With family and friends watching, the body of Lance Cpl. James Stack was lowered from a chartered plane at Wheeling's Executive Airport and welcomed home.
The Marine was killed in Afghanistan's Helmand Province Oct. 10 -- the Corps' 235th birthday -- while on foot patrol in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. He'd been in the country for just one month.
Honor guards, police and warriors' watch riders helped make the military ceremony special for their hometown hero.
"I just greatly respect and appreciate the dignity that's shown by the Marine Corps for their fallen warriors," said Stack's father, Bob Stack. "It's very much appreciated.
At 20 years old, Stack was a son, a brother, a new father and a husband. And becoming a Marine motivated him since he was a boy.
Hundreds of people lined the streets in Arlington Heights to pay their respects while a motorcade of police, honor guards and motorcycle groups carried his remains through the city.
Stack's funeral is scheduled for Saturday at Prospect High School in Mount Prospect.
