More than 500 people wait on tarmac for fallen Marine to come home

Hundreds salute fallen Pendleton Marine

A member of the Patriot Guard dabs his eyes as the body of Marine Cpl. Christopher G. Singer returns to Southern California in what is called a Hero Mission ceremony at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos.
REED SAXON, AP

Jan. 31, 2012

Family members weep over the casket as the body of Marine Cpl. Christopher G. Singer returns to Southern California in what is called a Hero Mission ceremony at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. Singer, 23, died in combat in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 21.
REED SAXON, AP

By ERIKA I. RITCHIE / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LAKE FOREST - Hundreds of firefighters and law enforcement officers on Tuesday waved flags from freeway bridges from Los Alamitos to Laguna Hills saluting a procession carrying the remains of Cpl. Christopher G. Singer, a Marine killed in Afghanistan on Jan. 21.

The procession of more than 200 vehicles followed a Hero Mission – a ceremony that marks the return of an American service member killed in action – at the Joint Forces Training Base at Los Alamitos.

Singer's family – including his wife, Brooke, 21, his father, Greg Singer, and his mother, Marlene Shaw – was escorted to the plane as the coffin was lowered.

More than 500 people stood on the tarmac and paid their respects. Honoring Our Fallen, a nonprofit group, will give Singer's 2-year-old daughter, Briyana, birthday and Christmas gifts until she is 18, said founder Laura Herzog.

Singer, 23, was killed while conducting operations in the Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Twentynine Palms-based 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, an element of Camp Pendleton's 1st Marine Division. Singer was born in San Diego and grew up in Lake Forest and Temecula.
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