Lance Cpl. Seth Sharp, 20, a Marine from Adairsville who was killed Thursday in Afghanistan, signed up when he was 17 and had previously been deployed in Iraq, a relative said.

He had arrived in Afghanistan only six weeks ago, his uncle Shane Rogers said.

Sharp attended Adairsville High School where he played football, but left high school early to join the Marines, his uncle said.

He is survived by his mother Angie Sharp and his father and stepmother Rick and Tiffany Sharp, Rogers said.

The body was expected to be returned to Dover, Del., on Saturday.

Sharp was killed during Operation Strike of the Sword, the latest push by the United States Marine Corps taking on the Taliban. He was serving in Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines.

R. Dudley Barton & Son has charge of the arrangements, which were incomplete Saturday.

Sharp is the third local serviceman killed in Afghanistan in recent weeks.

1st. Sgt. John Blair, 38, Calhoun, died in Mado Zayi, Afghanistan, on June 20 when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his vehicle. He was an Army National Guardsman assigned to the 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment out of Lawrenceville. Graveside services took place Wednesday afternoon in Canton.

In early June, Jeffrey William Jordan, 21, Cave Spring, who served with the Calhoun-based 108th Cavalry, was one of three soldiers from the Georgia National Guard unit killed in Afghanistan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.