Inland Empire, Coachella Valley To Remember Marines Killed In Afghanistan Withdrawal This Weekend
RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) — Three California Marines who were killed last month as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan will be honored this weekend with processions and memorials.
U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, Corporal Hunter Lopez, and Sergeant Nicole Gee were among the dozens killed in an Aug. 26 bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
Nikoui, 20, who grew up in the Inland Empire and graduated from Norco High School in 2019, will be brought home later Friday to be laid to rest. A fallen hero procession will take place just after noon from Ontario Airport to Pierce Brothers Crestlawn Mortuary in Riverside. His funeral takes place Saturday at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside.
Lopez returned home to the Coachella Valley for the last time Thursday night. The 22-year-old Marine grew up in Indio and was the son of a Riverside County sheriff's captain and a deputy. A procession on Friday will take place past the three schools he attended as a child, and will be followed by a public viewing at St. Francis of Assisi Church in La Quinta. A public memorial will take place for Lopez at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
A procession was also held Thursday for Gee in Sacramento County. The 23-year-old will be memorialized Saturday with full honors.
