Funeral service held for fallen Marine from New Jersey

NEW JERSEY (FOX 5 NEWS) - Family, friends, and fellow service members bade an emotional farewell to Marine Cpl. Dan Baldassare on Tuesday in New Jersey.

Baldassare, 20, was among 16 servicemen who died when a KC-130 military transport plane crashed into soybean fields in the Mississippi Delta on July 10.

Hundreds lined the streets as a motorcade of police vehicle and motorcycles escorted Baldassare's body home to New Jersey from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Monday.

A day later, loved ones came together at Colts Neck High School football field, where he used to compete, to remember him.

Devin Goldring, Baldassare's high school sweetheart and girlfriend of four years, told the crowd how he always aspired to join the Marines.

"The one thing Dan was most passionate about was the Marines. All he ever wanted to do was fly," Goldring said. "He worked hard -- he was a leader and he put his heart and soul into everything he had to do in order to achieve his dream."

Baldassare was based out of the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York. He leaves behind an extended family, his military family, and entire community grateful for his service.