Thousands of flags for fallen Marine

FOUNTAIN COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Hundreds of community members gathered Wednesday night to place American flags along the Fountain County funeral route for Marine Lance Corporal Joshua Witsman.

Thousands of flags stand tall in Fountain County, all to honor one hero.

"We're here to support Josh and his family for all he has done for us," volunteer, Jaren Oakley said.

"We came out here today to put some flags out for Josh in his memory," volunteer, Shay Oakley said.

"It's America. We're coming together and showing our spirit for our troops," volunteer, Priscilla Petrick said.

Wednesday, teams of volunteers loaded pickup trucks with thousands of flags to place along the Fountain County funeral route for Marine Lance Corporal Joshua Witsman.

"This is phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it," volunteer, Eric Crowder said.

"We love his family and just want to support them. Anything we can do to show respect we're 100 percent for it," volunteer, Susie Tuggle said.

"When a brave soldier dies, it makes you break down inside, but it's nice to know you can help out in so many ways," volunteer, Colton Dreher said.

"It's really cool that we can go out here and help our community to honor our hero Joshua Witsman," volunteer, Matthew Walters said.

The 23-year-old Marine, who was a Covington native, was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan when he was killed May 30, 2012.

"I just saw his mom a few months ago and she told me he was going back for his second term and, until this happened, you don't realize what those boys and girls are doing for us," Petrick said.

And now, flags fly high as the community waits to welcome this hero home Thursday, this time with much heavier hearts.

Thursday, Witsman's body is scheduled to land at the Danville, Illinois airport around 6:00 p.m.

The procession will travel through downtown Danville and then along U.S. 136 to Covington.

Friday, a public visitation will be held at the Covington High School gymnasium from noon until 6:00 p.m.

A public memorial service is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m.