Vigil Held for Slain US Marine in Her Home City

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Vigil for slain Marine Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo
Kathy Cuevas holds up a photo and shouts out the name of Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, during a vigil for the U.S. Marine who was among 13 killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, Aug. 31, 2021, in her hometown of Lawrence, Mass. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

LAWRENCE, Mass. — A U.S. Marine who was among 13 killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan was honored Tuesday evening in her hometown.

Officials in Lawrence, Massachusetts, held a vigil with Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo's family at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Rosario, 25, died in the Aug. 26 bombing at the Kabul airport, where people were being evacuated amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. A dozen other U.S. service members and 169 Afghans were killed.

Dozens attended a separate vigil in Rosario’s memory last weekend in Boston that was hosted by Massachusetts Fallen Heroes, an organization founded by veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rosario, who was of Dominican origin, served with the Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

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