Over 1,000 people in a Rancho Cucamonga community gathered to honor Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, one of the 13 U.S. service members who died in the Kabul airport attack amid the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan on Aug. 26.
The 20-year-old Marine graduated from Los Osos High School in 2019 and planned to study engineering in college after his military service.
“Thank you all so very much for coming out tonight to join us in honoring my son Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola,” said Cheryl Rex, Merola’s mother. “I love you son, and I can’t imagine living this life without you in it”