Victims of Charleston massacre mourned as battle rages over flag

Gary Washington stands over the casket of his mother, Ethel Lance, as she is buried at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church cemetery in North Charleston, South Carolina June 25, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - South Carolina took a small step toward healing the wounds of last week's massacre at a historic black church in Charleston as mourners gathered for the funerals of two of the nine victims, and a wake for the slain pastor.

Thursday's services for Ethel Lance, 70, and Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, come days after some of the families of the slain black churchgoers offered unqualified forgiveness for the young white man accused of their murders.