Candlelight Vigil Held For Marine Captain Ross Reynolds: 'He Is Flying In Peace'

LEOMINSTER (CBS) -- Dozens gathered at Leominster City Hall Sunday night to honor fallen Marine Captain Ross Reynolds with a candlelight vigil. Reynolds was piloting an Osprey helicopter during a drill when it went down two weeks ago in Norway.

"Ross was a great kid," said Lori Bateman at the vigil.

She said she has known the Reynolds family for the better part of 50 years and watched the Marine grow up.

"He just always wanted to be a Marine pilot. That was written in his yearbook his senior year. He wanted to be a marine pilot and have a happy family," said Bateman.

The 27-year-old had just started shaping that family; he married his wife Lana Reynolds in February.

Lana spoke at Sunday night's vigil.

"I want to let you know how proud I am, and you all should be," she said. "He truly is incredible. He is not resting in peace; he is flying in peace."

Lana shared stories about the day she married Ross. "It was the most precious moment of my life," she said. "I know he is part of me and with me and he is flying over watching all of you and he was doing what he loved: flying."

On Saturday, a procession brought Reynolds' body from Logan Airport through his hometown of Leominster to a Fitchburg funeral home.

A public wake will be held Monday at City Hall from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The funeral Mass will be at St. Cecilia's Church on Mechanic Street at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The Mass will also be broadcast live at City Hall.

Burial will be a private ceremony at the Massachusetts Memorial Veterans' Cemetery in Winchendon.