Honor Guard to Escort Hero Home Through South Cobb

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Scott Daniel Harper, 21, of Winston was killed in action in Afghanistan on Oct. 13. He will be brought home by his beloved Marine Corps on Thursday.

Harper, accompanied by members of the Marine Corps and his family, will land at Fulton County Airport/Charlie Brown Field Thursday morning. A Marine Corps Honor Guard will escort the lance corporal's body off the plane. A procession will leave the airport at 11:30 a.m. to bring him to Douglas County.

The procession will follow Mableton Parkway to U.S. 78 (Bankhead Highway/Veterans Memorial Parkway) through Mableton, Austell, Lithia Springs and into Douglasville, where the procession will move one block south at Fairburn Road to proceed along Church Street. The procession will end at , 8640 Rose Ave., where the Marine Corps Honor Guard will escort Lance Cpl. Harper into the building.

The public is invited to salute the service of Harper along the processional route. 

Harper’s family will receive friends at the funeral home Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 9 p.m. The funeral will be held Sunday at 3 p.m. at Ephesus Baptist Church, 8445 Ephesus Church Rd., Winston. Interment will follow at the Ephesus Baptist Church Cemetery will full military honors.

His family issued the following statement through a county press release:

“Although we are heartbroken over Scott’s death, we are so proud of his service.  He will forever be our hero and his memory will live on in our hearts. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers and kind words. Knowing that Scott touched so many lives brings us comfort.”

He was killed in combat operations in Helmand province during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. Harper served with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, NC.

Harper was a 2008 graduate of , where he was a member of the golf team and JROTC. He was proud to be an infantryman serving his country.  e not only loved his country, but also loved his family, his community, hunting, fishing and playing his guitar. He was Baptist by faith.

He is survived by his father and his father's wife, Brian and Angela Harper; his mother, Deborah Busbin Staples; a brother, Mitchell Staples; a sister, Amber Staples; a stepbrother, Joseph Hulsey; a stepsister and her husband, Holly and Rusty Harpe; paternal grandmother Diana Harper; maternal grandparents J.R. “Buzz” and Janet Busbin; maternal great-grandmother Era Streetman; uncle and aunt Patrick and Tina Harper and their children, Michael, Kathryn and Kevin Harper; uncle and aunt Lon and Lisa Bell and their children, Chanda and Kasey Bell; and uncle and aunt Michael and Michelle Busbin and their children, Rachel, Brandi and Jessica.