Body of Long Island Marine killed in Afghanistan returns home

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Photo credit A U.S. Marine Corps carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman, Thursday, April 11, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Slutman, of Newark, Del., was among three American service members killed by a roadside bomb on Monday, April 8, near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

GLEN HEAD, N.Y. (1010 WINS) -- The body of a Long Island Marine killed in Afghanistan was back home on Friday night.

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Sgt. Robert Hendriks was killed by a roadside bomb along with two other servicemembers last week. His body made the trip from Dover Air Force Base in Deleware to Whitting Funeral Home in Glen Head.

Hendriks, 25, was killed with SSgt Christopher Slutman of the Bronx and Sgt Benjamin Hines of York, Pennsylvania.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school, and friends told ABC7 he was a hardworking man with a big heart.

"He was my best friend," Christopher Tasso said. "He'll continue to be a compass for me as I continue on, along with everybody else he was close to."

Hendriks also has a brother in the Marine Corps. His grief stricken mother told ABC7 that despite her son's death, she is proud of their service.

"We are inconsolable and broken into a million pieces. But I am and always will be proud to call my sons United States Marines."

A wake for Hendriks will be held on Tuesday.

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