Fallen Marine to return to Georgia

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A fallen Marine from Paulding County returned to Georgia Saturday afternoon.

Enlarge photo

Rich Addicks, AP Family and friends wait as the body of Jason H. Estopinal, a Marine from Dallas, Ga., arrives at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., Saturday. The Pentagon said Estopinal, 21, was killed Feb. 15 in Afghanistan.

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Pfc. Jason Hill Estopinal, 21, died Monday during a combat operation in Afghanistan. The 2007 graduate of East Paulding High School, was deployed in late October, according to his family.

Estopinal arrived at Dobbins Air Reserve base in Marietta, where family and friends were gathered.

"It was so overwhelming," Claire Estopinal, Jason's mother, said Saturday night from her Dallas home.

Claire Estopinal said her oldest son was a fantastic kid, very well-liked by his friends.

The funeral for Estopinal will be held Tuesday at noon at Sosebee Funeral Home in Canton. Visitation will be held beginning two hours prior. Burial will follow at the Georgia National Cemetery.

"A horse and carriage will take him from the front gate of the cemetery to where he's being buried," Claire Estopinal said.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made at any Regions Bank to the Jason H. Estopinal Memorial Fund.

The Marine is also survived by his father Jason and his brother, Parker, an 11th grader at East Paulding.