TEMECULA, Calif.— The Southern California city of Temecula has honored a local Marine killed in a rocket attack in Iraq last month.

The Press-Enterprise reports hundreds of residents paid respects Friday morning in a closed-casket ceremony for Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin on the steps of the Civic Center.

The ceremony included speeches from the mayor and a representative of the Marine's family, which plans a private funeral.

The 27-year-old Cardin died March 19. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

U.S. Marines carry the casket of fallen Marine Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardinto as hundreds of area residents gather to pay their last respects during a public viewing on the steps of the Temecula Civic Center in Temecula, Calif., on Friday, April 1, 2016. Cardin was killed in a rocket attack in Iraq last month. (Frank Bellino/The Press-Enterprise via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT

U.S. Marines carry the casket of fallen Marine Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardinto as hundreds of area residents gather to pay their last respects during a public viewing on the steps of the Temecula Civic Center in Temecula, Calif., on April 1, 2016. Cardin was killed in a rocket attack in Iraq last month.

Photo Credit: Frank Bellino/The Press Enterprise via AP

Cardin was a native of Riverside who moved to Temecula with his family in the mid-2000s.

He was a graduate of Chaparral High School in Temecula, which sits between San Diego and Los Angeles along Interstate 15.

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