BELLINGHAM - The route for a motorcade honoring a fallen Marine from Ferndale was released Thursday afternoon, Jan. 26.
A procession for Capt. Daniel B. Bartle, 27, who died in a helicopter crash last week in Afghanistan, is tentatively scheduled to start about 1 p.m. Saturday, when his body is expected to arrive at Bellingham International Airport.
From there the procession will move south to the Interstate 5 Bakerview onramp and leave the freeway at the Northwest Avenue exit. The motorcade will move down Northwest Avenue until it changes to Elm Street and then turn right onto Broadway, ending at Westford Funeral Home, 1301 Broadway.
The public is invited to line the streets to honor Bartle as the motorcade passes.
The Heritage Flight Museum will be open from noon to 4 p.m. for visitors who want to watch the procession from the airport.
Bartle, a helicopter pilot in the Marines, graduated valedictorian from Ferndale High School in 2002. His helicopter crashed Jan. 19 in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, leaving six Marines dead.
NATO officials said there were no signs of enemy activity in the area at the time, and a mechanical failure was being investigated as the cause of the crash, according to the Associated Press.
A public memorial will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Ferndale High School auditorium.
A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Church of the Assumption, 2116 Cornwall Ave. The Mass will be a smaller ceremony, but it's also open to the public.
