DALTON, Mass. - The body of a soldier killed in Afghanistan is back home.

The remains of Army Spc. Mitchell Daehling arrived in Dalton, Berkshire County late Wednesday morning under military escort.

Daehling was killed last week. 

Calling hours for will be Thursday night at St. Agnes Church in Dalton.

A funeral mass will be celebrated there Friday morning.

Daehling will be awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

He will be buried in Lewiston, Idaho next to his grandfather. That was his final wish.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - The Pittsfield home where Herman Melville wrote "Moby-Dick" is getting a period makeover.

Workers from Historic Preservation Associates are building a Victorian-style porch on the front of the homestead known as Arrowhead. The building is now a Melville museum and home to the Berkshire Historical Society.

Though the house was built in 1780, Arrowhead Executive Director Betsy Sherman tells The Berkshire Eagle the original front porch was added in 1870, likely by Melville's brother. The building has undergone multiple renovations since.

The porch project is part of a series of upgrades planned for the next year, which include painting, the installation of period storm windows, and landscaping.

FORT BELVOIR, Va - Air Force Maj. Aaron M. Maynard was awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. This is the fourth time the Defense Threat Reduction Agency has received this award.

The unit's mission is to safeguard the nation and its allies from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive weapons of mass destruction by providing the capabilities needed to reduce, eliminate and counter the threat such weapons pose and to mitigate its effect.

The Joint Meritorious Unit Award, established in 1981, is the only ribbon award granted by the Defense Department and is the organizational equivalent of the Defense Superior Service Medal.

Maynard is the commander of 9th Munitions Squadron assigned to the Air Force Combat Ammunition Center at Beale, Air Force Base, Calif.  The major has served in the military for 20 years.