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People line the streets to honor fallen soldier Gabe Conde

A procession to honor Army Specialist Gabriel Conde was held Friday as the family prepares to lay him to rest.

The body of Army Specialist Gabe Conde was returned to Colorado Friday morning, more than a week after he was killed during a small arms fire in Afghanistan.

An airplane carrying the 22-year-old’s body landed at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Loveland shortly before 10 a.m. Family, military personnel and members of the community lined up to pay respects to the fallen soldier.

A procession of vehicles in his honor then traveled north, passing through Berthoud – the place where his family has lived since 2009 – before ending in Longmont, where his funeral will be held on Saturday.

Community members lined the streets along the procession route, many holding American flags and signs of support.

Vietnam veteran Butch Hartson attended the procession and says the death of Conde was like losing a brother.

"There are times when the young pay the price for our freedom, and it shouldn't happen," he said.

Nann Wyatt of Greeley told 9NEWS she traveled to Berthoud to show her support for Conde and his family.

“I can’t imagine what they must feeling and the hurt and grief,” she said. “But we're going to respect him today and we're going to be here and line the streets and show the family that he did not die in vain.”

Conde is the first Coloradan to be killed in Afghanistan since 2014.

His funeral will be held at Life Bridge Christian Church in Longmont, and he will be buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery on Monday.

Conde enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 2015 in Berthoud after spending a year studying at the Colorado School of Mines, and had been assigned to the U.S. Army Alaska since April 2016.

He deployed with the brigade to Afghanistan in September 2017 in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel.

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