Eighty-two years to the day after a Clarksburg, Berkshire County native was killed in action in World War II, Private First Class Erwin King has finally been laid to rest.

Community members gathered for the special burial Tuesday afternoon at the Southview Cemetery in

North Adams, where his parents always held out hope their son would someday return home.

According to his family, King was only 17 years old when he begged his father for his permission to enlist with the United States Marines, right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

He was killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942.

DNA analysis this past May confirmed Erwin’s remains, which were found in the Solomon Islands.

See how the community rallied together to help welcome him home, by watching the video from NewsChannel 13 photojournalist Lindsey Shumway.