One of the seven U.S. Marines killed Feb. 23 in a midair collision of two military helicopters in Arizona as the troops prepared for deployment to Afghanistan will be laid to rest in Cherokee County this afternoon, and residents are asked to show their respect for the fallen soldier along the funeral procession route.

Lance Cpl. Corey A. Little of Fayetteville will be buried at the Georgia National Cemetery off Knox Bridge Road in Canton in a graveside service at 2:30 p.m.

The procession will be accompanied by the Patriot Guard and provided escort by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. The funeral procession is expected to exit Interstate 575 at Exit 16 at Marietta Highway and State Highway 20 West.

Members of the Patriot Guard said the funeral will be in Atlanta and moving north, and they ask that county residents line the street to show respect for the fallen Marine.

Lance Cpl. Little died on while serving as crew chief on a UH-1 Huey helicopter during a training exercise near Yuma Ariz. in the Chocolate Mountains on the California border.

He was serving with the 3rd Marine Air Wing, and they were training for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. The other helicopter involved in the crash was an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter, and both were based at Camp Pendleton, in San Diego County.

Lance Cpl. Little was a 2004 graduate of Sandy Creek High School in Fayetteville. He married his wife, Nicole in December 2009 and their first child is expected in September.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the accident.

Though weather did not appear to play a factor, visibility might have been severely limited by nightfall and a significant amount of dust, referred to as a “brown out,” created by the helicopters landing and taking off, according to military officials.

The environment there mimics what aircraft experience in Afghanistan.