Yellow ribbons are going up, friends and relatives are holding prayer vigils and some families are traveling to Hawaii as they wait for word on the fate of the 12 Marines missing after two helicopters crashed off the North Shore last week.

Yellow ribbons were posted today for Marine Sgt. William Josh Turner in his hometown of Florala, Ala. near the Florida line. The 25-year-old Turner is a 2009 graduate of Florala High School, where workers remember him as a good student and baseball player.

“He’d just always wanted to be a Marine, and he was a good candidate,” said school counselor Joea McNeil, who sat in on Turner’s interview with a military recruiter at school.

Gay Burleson, whose son grew up with Turner, said he married in April 2015 while stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Some of Turner’s family from Alabama joined his wife in Hawaii to monitor progress of the search, Burleson said.

“We’re still just in shock about it,” Burleson said.

Another missing Marine is from Florence in northwest Alabama.

Capt. Steven R. Torbert, 29, grew up at Highland Baptist Church and his relatives remain members there. A pastor said the church is praying for the 29-year-old Torbert.

In Woodruff, South Carolina, friends and family held a prayer vigil Monday night for Sgt. Jeffrey A. Sempler.

His grandparents Ralph and Sandy Beauvier thanked the community for its support, the Herald-Journal reported. The 22-year-old Marine enjoyed reading and driving Ford Mustangs, Ralph Beauvier said.

“I wish I could tell the whole world what a great kid he was,” Ralph Beauvier said. “I am very proud of him.”

Sempler graduated from Woodruff High School in 2011, and teachers remembered him as quiet and thoughtful, but with a quick wit, principal Aaron Fulmer said in a statement released to WHNS-TV in Greenville, South Carolina.

“He was loved by the community; he was just a really great person,” Fulmer said.

The family of Capt. Kevin Roche of St. Louis, ” is flying to Hawaii to be there for Kevin and with the Marines as we continue to pray and hope for Kevin’s return,” said his brother-in-law, Anthony Kuenzel.

Roche’s family also praised rescuers for trying to find the 30-year-old Marine and the others.

“We believe the Marines and Coast Guard are doing everything they can to bring Kevin and his fellow Marines home safely, and we are grateful to everyone involved in the rescue,” said a family statement .

The uncle of Sgt. Dillon J. Semolina said his nephew wanted to be a nurse when he left the Marines.

“He was waiting to hear from a school he had applied to and was hoping to hear next week,” Ryan Bachand said.

Semolina, 24, of Chaska, Minn., was an impressive young man, respectful and positive, Bachand said. He had been a good football player at Delano, Minnesota, high school.

The family hopes he and the others will be found alive, Bachand said.

The uncle said he would cherish memories of spending time with Semolina when Bachand was a fishing guide in northern Minnesota.

“I was able to teach him how to fish,” he said.

Cpl. Matthew R. Drown, 23, of Spring, Texas, joined the Marines shortly after graduating from a suburban Houston high school in 2011.

His family said in a statement that they are remaining hopeful for the rescue of the 12 Marines.

Drown’s former high school English teacher, Yvette Stuckey, told the Houston Chronicle that she remembered Drown as a shy freshman but that he came out of his shell as he grew, eventually participating in debate tournaments.

His speech and debate teacher, Angie Richard, recalled him as “very happy, always smiling” and showing a confidence in public speaking “unusual among high school kids.”

Stuckey said she was “shocked but so excited” when Drown told her his plans to enlist after graduation, adding that he was “really excited to follow and serve his country.”

The family of Sgt. Adam C. Schoeller, 25, of Gardners, Penn., said they are remaining optimistic.

A statement released through a family friend said that “there are thousands praying for a positive outcome” for the Marines. “We value all of the thoughts and prayers offered up on our behalf during this very difficult time.”

Relatives say Schoeller and his wife, Samantha Wickel-Schoeller, were married on July 4. Schoeller’s Facebook page says he attended Boiling Springs High School.

Cpl. Thomas J. Jardas, 22, of Fort Myers, Fla., is the younger brother of the reigning Miss District of Columbia, Haely Jardas, who competed in last year’s Miss America pageant.

The Miss D.C. Organization said in a statement that its thoughts and prayers are with Haely Jardas and her family. Haely Jardas flew home to Florida on Saturday to be with her family, Miss D.C. executive director Tricia Lloyd says.

Capt. Brian T. Kennedy’s father said he hopes the search is successful for his 31-year-old son, who is from suburban Philadelphia.

“This is where he grew up and went to high school, but since he graduated from the Naval Academy, he’s been on assignment,” said William Kennedy, of Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Cpl. Christopher Orlando’s family said they are thankful for the outpouring of love, concern and prayers.

Orlando,23, is a flight crew chief and a 2010 high school graduate from Hingham, outside Boston. His family said in a statement released by the Massachusetts State Police that they are monitoring the search and are thankful for rescuers’ hard work.

Before Orlando joined the Marines, he was a counselor at a surf camp in Hull, Massachusetts, and is a “camp legend,” the South Shore Surf Camp said in a Facebook post. “He is mentally and physically strong with the ocean experience and skills needed to survive anything Mother Nature can throw at him.”

Lanc. Cpl. Ty L. Hart, 21, of Aumsville, Ore., lives on base in Hawaii with his wife, the Oregonian newspaper reported.

Family friend Christina Brown described Hart as upbeat and energetic and said he enjoys nature, boating and wakeboarding.

Hart’s former high school football coach and teacher, Alan Kirby, told the newspaper that Hart was a positive kid who always had a smile on his face and called him a quick learner on the gridiron.

Donna McGrew, the mother of Maj. Shawn M. Campbell, described the father of four as a “great dad whose kids love him, and he’s wonderful husband.”

The 41-year-old Marine, from College Station, Texas, attended high school in suburban Houston and graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in microbiology.

In a family statement, McGrew said her son accepted a commission after graduation and became a career Marine. Campbell served three tours in Middle East, the last in Iraq, she told the Houston Chronicle. He returned to the U.S. to be a flying instructor at Pensacola, Florida, and had transferred to Hawaii about two years ago.

He, his wife, Kelli, and their children have been living near the Marine base at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

“My husband and I want everyone to know that this is not about us,” McGrew said in the statement. “This is about the families that are suffering, and about all the sacrifices that our military members and their families make on a daily basis.”