EDITORIAL: Thank you, 48th Brigade Delta Company

Published 11:43 am Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Monday morning, as most of us were still recovering from a long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, local members of the Georgia National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade and their families were preparing to bid farewell on the eve of deployment. 

The 48th Brigade is training in preparation for a deployment mission to Afghanistan early next year. 

America has been involved in war and peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan for the past 17 years now. Although this upcoming mission, which is expected to last anywhere from nine to 12 months, will involve training and assisting Afghan army soldiers, these guardsmen will still be thousands of miles away from home. Whether during peacetime or wartime, there is still risk involved and the community as a whole should rally in hope for their safe return.

We should remember also the families these brave men and women are leaving behind. Deployment is an adjustment for them as well, particularly those with children, as the adults involved try to help them make sense of it all. 

Without an immediate threat to our national security, it can be easy to forget that there are still men and women actively working around the globe to ensure our safety here at home. 

We should never forget that. 

If you know families that will be impacted by deployment, make an effort to let them know that we are all thinking of them and their safety. Let them know that this community supports them and that we appreciate their sacrifice, especially here at the holidays. These families are making an adjustment many of us have never had to face — and many of them are already all too familiar with the process having experienced previous deployments. 

We all need to show our support for these members of our community, who are sacrificing time away from their families and risking so much miles away from home. We want our local soldiers to know that they have support back here at home, and they’ll be supported when they return safe and sound.

Thank you, members of the 48th Brigade Delta Company, 1st Battalion Infantry for your service and sacrifice. Get home safely soon.