3 Marines killed in Afghanistan honored

RIVERSIDE, CALIF. » Mourners in California said prayers and their final goodbyes to three Marines killed in last month’s bombing in Afghanistan.

Family and friends of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui packed a church in Riverside to celebrate the life of the 20-year-old Marine from Norco.

Phil Wozniak, pastor of Grace Fellowship Church Norco, said Nikoui pulled three families to safety and went back to the airport to rescue a child when the bomb went off.

At a memorial service in Palm Springs for Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, mourners noted his final heroic act — rescuing children from a rioting mob before the blast took his life.

In Northern California, the aunt of Sgt. Nicole Gee remarked on the iconic photo of her niece cradling an Afghan baby. Cheryl Juels told mourners gathered church that the image was taken near the end of a long, sleep-deprived shift, when someone handed Gee a baby to comfort.