CHICAGO, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of mourners gathered at a church in Decatur city of central Illinois state to pay respect to the fallen Navy sailor Logan Palmer, who died last month as the warship USS John McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore.
Palmer's flag-draped casket was carried into the church by a Naval honor guard in dress uniform. Navy officers and sailors saluted the casket that lay at the front of the church sanctuary, surrounded by sprays of flowers in red, white and blue.
After the service, his funeral procession, escorted by police and fire vehicles, passed under a vast American flag held suspended between two tower trucks from the Decatur Fire Department, according to local media the Decatur Herald and Review.
Palmer, 23, died Aug. 21 as one of the 10 sailors killed on the warship USS John McCain after a collision with a tanker near Singapore. Palmer was an interior communications electrician 3rd class petty officer.
The cause of the collision is under investigation. The crash ripped a gash in the McCain's hull, flooding crew berths and machinery and communications rooms.
