FULTON, Miss. – The Mississippi National Guard is holding a public funeral service for fallen Army aviator Chief Warrant Officer 4 Derek Joshua Abbott at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 17,  at the Itawamba Community College Davis Event Center, 602 West Hill St.

The funeral service is open to the public and all are invited to attend. Internment and graveside Military Honors is for family and military personnel only due to limited space at the grave site. The public is asked to line MS-178 between the Davis Event Center and the Itawamba Memorial Gardens to render honors as Chief Abbott’s procession passes by.

The MSNG experienced a helicopter crash on Feb. 23 in a wooded area near Booneville, Prentiss County, Miss., resulting in the death of two Mississippi Army National Guard aviators. The AH-64 Apache helicopter was conducting a training flight when the incident occurred, according to the MSNG State Army Aviation Office.

One Soldier, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Derek Joshua Abbott, was in D Company of the 2nd Battalion, 151st Lakota Medical Evacuation unit, based at the Mississippi National Guard’s Army Aviation Support Facility 2 in Tupelo, Mississippi. A decorated combat Veteran and native of Fulton, Abbott is survived by his wife of 18 years and their three children.