ates Honoring Our Fallen and worked with the Army’s casualty care officer on the arrangements to bring Gayo home. “It is our job as parents, grandparents and the community to honor sacrifice. We need to gather in solidarity, no matter what the differences, and honor the men and women in the military and the first responders.”

The motorcade drove from LAX on surface streets and freeways to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, where Gayo will be buried Friday afternoon.

Along the way, people gathered to cheer, wave flags and salute the fallen soldier.

The procession arrived at the memorial park around 6:55 p.m., preceded by motorcyclists flashing their lights and stopping traffic.

Greeting the motorcade at the gates of Forest Lawn were two Los Angeles fire engines flashing their lights as well. Firefighters and police officers saluted as the procession passed through the gates, with a smattering of veterans and other residents gathered nearby.

Not far away were Gayo’s family members, who awaited a private ceremony.

Gayo’s sister, Margaritta, and his girlfriend, Karla Baldoza — an Army staff sergeant — came out to speak to the media.

“He wanted to be a pilot. My brother wanted to continue our dad’s dream,” Margaritta Gayo said as she held back tears.

Isaac Gayo, who moved to California with his family from the Philippines in 2012, had learned just the week before the fatal crash that he had been accepted to flight school and would start working to attain that goal.

“It’s heartbreaking because he had waited two years to get into that school,” said his girlfriend, Baldoza.

Tragically, also on the day of his death, Margaritta Gayo received the paperwork closing the sale of the L.A. condominium she and her brother were purchasing together.

“Moving into the new house, I can feel him there,” she said. “He is with us.”

Baldoza said that, despite their opposite personalities — she is shy, while Isaac Gayo was outgoing — they were a great match and had many plans for their future together.

“He would put me first,” Baldoza said, adding that she spoke to him daily on the phone before the tragic crash. “He always pushed me to keep moving ahead.”

While serving on the other side of the country, Isaac Gayo checked in daily with his sister to hear her voice.

“He always wanted to make sure everything was fine,” Margaritta Gayo said of her younger brother during an interview earlier Monday. “He was a very kind person, always had a smile on his face and wanted to help.”

He’d also send photos before flights aboard one of the helicopters, on which he worked as a maintenance chief.

Margaritta Gayo, a housekeeping supervisor, said she and her brother were incredibly close. The two regularly traveled together and loved eating new foods.

She said her brother studied computer engineering in the Philippines before the family moved to the U.S. Then, when they arrived, first living in Pasadena briefly, her brother did what he could to help the family out. He worked three jobs at one point, including at a local market, Universal Studios and the Los Angeles Unified School District, she said.

He enlisted in the Army in 2019, attending basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and then took advanced individual training at Fort Eustis, Virginia.

His awards and decorations include the U.S. Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

Margaritta Gayo and other family members attended a military service held by her brother’s unit at Fort Campbell on April 6. The somber event included a visit to the crash site, she said, adding the most painful part of the experience was listening to the last roll call, where the names of fallen soldiers are called out to no response.

Also killed were:

• Warrant Officer 1 Jeffery Barnes, 33, of Milton, Florida.

• Cpl. Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos, 23, of Austin, Texas.

• Chief Warrant Officer 2 Zachary Esparza, 36, of Jackson, Missouri.

• Staff Sgt. Joshua C. Gore, 25, of Morehead City, North Carolina.

• Warrant Officer 1 Aaron Healy, 32, of Cape Coral, Florida.

• Staff Sgt. Taylor Mitchell, 30, of Mountain Brook, Alabama.

• Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rusten Smith, 32, of Rolla, Missouri.

• Sgt. David Solinas Jr., 23, of Oradell, New Jersey.

“This is a time of great sadness for the 101st Airborne Division,” Maj. Gen. JP McGee, commanding officer of the division and Fort Campbell, said in a statement last month.

“The loss of these soldiers will reverberate through our formations for years to come. Now is the time for grieving and healing. The whole division and this community stand behind the families and friends of our fallen soldiers.”

On Monday, Robin Cessna traveled from her home in Ventura County to the cemetery to show her support for the Gayo family as an Army mom — her son is on active duty.

“It’s so sad,” Cessna said. “For a soldier to die here (in the U.S.) instead of in active duty (abroad) is just as tough because you don’t expect that to happen.”

She added: “My condolences to the family. No parent should ever have to bury their child.”

City News Service contributed to this report.