U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Harding Jr. celebrates with a certificate after he is promoted to that rank. He died Thursday in Virginia. (Photo Provided)

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A motorcade will bring 29-year-old U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Christopher D. Harding Jr. back to his hometown today after he was killed in a motor vehicle crash last week in Virginia.

Harding was an active duty marine stationed in Virginia and was hit-head on Thursday Chesterfield County by an alleged drunk driver while riding with his motorcycle club, the Warthogs MC.

“He was a wonderful and caring young man with his life ahead of him. He was definitely going places,” his father’s fiance, Amanda Wallace, said.

She added that he enlisted in the Marines right out of high school and has served for the past 10 years.

The Warthogs MC will leave Virginia at 9 a.m. to accompany Harding’s body to Morgantown at 1 p.m. Following their arrival in Morgantown, they will meet with his brother, Jeremy Kartman, and the American Legion Riders.

From Morgantown, the motorcade will travel to St. Clairsville, where it will make its final stop at Toothman Funeral Home.

He added that he hopes Ohio Valley residents will “line route 9 up from the Bell Store to Toothmans like you never have before!”

“Let’s honor my brother like he deserves!” he added.

He suggested that residents wanting to honor Harding start lining up at 2:30 p.m.

According to CBS 6 News out of Richmond, Virginia, 56-year-old Bradford Jordan was traveling east in the westbound lanes of West Hundred Road around 3:30 p.m. and struck Harding head on. Jordan was being held Monday at the Chesterfield County Jail. The Chesterfield County Police Department is still investigating the incident.

“I’ll miss his smile, his laugh, and him walking through our front door when he comes home on leave,” Wallace said. “The visits to the base. C.J. was an exceptional young man and had everyone’s back. He was hardworking and driven like no other. His heart was pure and full. He loved his family, his friends, the Marine Corps, and his motorcycle club. He’s a genuine guy.”

Kartman said he remembers that his brother was always told that he was too short or too small, but put his heart into becoming a Marine.

“He put his heart into everything he did. Football, basketball, anything he wanted to do he put his all into. That’s what I admired the most about my little brother,” he said. “If you told him he couldn’t, he made sure he could.”