A soldier from Warner Robins, killed in combat will be honored Friday as his body returns home.

23-year old Army Specialist Mark Downer was killed last Friday, when his unit was attacked by a rocket propelled grenade in Afghanistan.

Downer was a combat medic stationed at Ft. Drum, N.Y.  He was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.  His unit deployed to Afghanistan in March.

Before Downer joined the Army in 2009, he served in the Georgia Air National Guard as a weather apprentice.  He was assigned to the 116^th Air Control Wing at Robins AFB.

An honor guard at Robins Air Force Base will receive his remains just after 9 in the morning. Starting at 9:45, people are encouraged to stand along the route, from the Museum of Aviation to McCullough Funeral Home to show their support and respect.

Escort Route

• The escort will begin at the Museum of Aviation
• Right on Highway 247
• Left on Watson Boulevard
• Right on North Davis Drive
• Left on Green Street and continue past Northside High School
• Left on North Houston Road
• Right on Watson Boulevard
• Left on Houston Lake Road
• The escort will end at McCullough Funeral Home at 417 S. Houston Lake Road

The funeral is scheduled for 11 am, Saturday at Southside Baptist Church in Warner Robins.

 NOTE: The family has asked that cameras or video recorders not be allowed inside the church during the funeral, and media will not be permitted to cover this event on base. 41NBC News will respect the family's wishes and limit our coverage to the escort route.

If Ed Gadrix had his way, allowing horse tracks and betting throughout Georgia would be the number one way to turn around our slumping economy.

"I think people realize that we have to do something about unemployment and budget shortfalls...this is a major way to address those issues," Gadrix explains.

He's talking about horse tracks. Gadrix is a lobbyist for the Georgia Equine Educational Project (G.E.E.P.). His group is trying to get state law makers to pass his legislation to allow race tracks and horse racing for the peach state.

"We're talking about bringing a billion dollar industry to Georgia, that creates between 10,000 to 20,000 jobs," Gadrix says.

Gadrix points out that the creation of jobs would extend beyond the physical locations of the tracks. He says most tracks would stay close to the larger metropolitan areas due to demand. However, smaller regions like middle Georgia, would still benefit in the profits.

Gadrix explains how the horses would be bred, trained, and raised in the more rural areas of the state. This would bring in jobs, buildings, and new farms to smaller towns and communities. 

Perry Mayor Jimmy Faircloth joined us live in the studio Wednesday to talk about his city and why he's proud to call it home.