Body of soldier returns home

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BOLINGBROOK – The body of a 21-year-old Illinois soldier killed in last week’s shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, has arrived back in his hometown.

The body of Pfc. Michael Pearson of Bolingbrook arrived Thursday at Midway Airport in Chicago.

A long motorcade escorted his hearse from the National Guard Armory at the airport to a Joliet funeral home. The procession went through Bolingbrook, driving by the high school Pearson attended. He graduated in 2006.

Along the way, military personnel and emergency workers stopped to salute.

Pearson will be buried Saturday with military honors at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.

He was one of 13 people killed at Fort Hood on Nov. 5. Another Illinois soldier, 21-year-old Pvt. Francheska Velez of Chicago, was also killed.