Lance Cpl. Christopher Fowlkes will be returned to his hometown Wednesday, and friends, family and community supporters have every intention of turning the somber occasion into a "hero's welcome."

Fowlkes, 20, who died Sept. 10 from injuries he sustained in Afghanistan on Sept. 3, will be escorted into Gaffney by a motorcade of police vehicles. The plane bearing his body is expected to land in Greenville at about 3 p.m. and the procession to Gaffney will follow a brief homecoming service at the airport.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office released a detailed route for the trip. The procession will get off Interstate 85 at Exit 90 and travel down Hyatt Street. It will then take Petty Street to Frederick Street, and follow Frederick Street back to Limestone Street.

After traveling south on Limestone Street, the procession will turn onto West Floyd Baker Boulevard and head directly to Blakely Funeral Home.

Fowlkes' family will receive friends on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Blakely Funeral Home. Memorial services will be

on Friday at 4 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Gaffney.

Fowlkes, a 2007 graduate of Gaffney High School, was the third member of his family to join the Marines, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncle. He was in the middle of his second deployment overseas when an improvised explosive device critically injured him and four other servicemen on Sept. 3 in Afghanistan.

He was flown to Germany for medical treatment but died due to complications from his injuries. Fowlkes was the first Gaffney serviceman to die in wartime since the Vietnam War.

His obituary can be found on Page 8A.

Lindley Auton, a Cherokee County school board member, is seeking the community's involvement in giving Fowlkes a "hero's welcome" by lining the streets during the funeral procession.

"This effort is to express our gratitude for his service, our support for his family and friends and our respect for every American Soldier, past and present ... to honor their brave sacrifices," she wrote.

"We want to line the streets and wave our American flags, in appreciation for our Fallen Soldier, along the anticipated funeral procession route, which would be Limestone Street and Floyd Baker Boulevard."

Auton was collecting donations for the purchase of United States flags so everyone can have one along the funeral procession route. "If you do not have a flag, please join us anyway," she wrote.

Gaffney Embroidery donated several hundred flags already and is providing Auton any other flags needed for the effort at cost.

Auton said additional details about the "hero's welcome" would be posted on the caringbridge. com website on a special page set up for Chris Fowlkes.