Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter presented flags to the families of two men who never joined the U.S. military but died fighting against ISIS in Syria, after their bodies arrived back in Colorado on Friday.
The caskets of Levi Shirley, 24, of Arvada, and Jordan MacTaggart, 22, of Castle Rock, returned by train to Denver after arriving at Chicago O'Hare International Airport earlier in the week. The two men fought with Kurdish militias in Syria.
The bodies were delivered to their sobbing loved ones in plain, gray caskets. A team of pallbearers unloaded the caskets from an Amtrak train and lifted them into hearses while sleepy passengers watched curiously.
On Thursday Perlmutter spoke with Colorado Matters host Nathan Heffel about why he considers the men patriots.
