Georgia National Guard returns from Afghanistan to cheering families

Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com

Sgt. 1st Class James Creager (left) Alpha Battery 118th Field Artillery, left, who was wounded in both legs by a insurgent wearing a police uniform, tearfully embraces Lt. Darren Droullard as the first flight home arrives at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. Creager promised his men he would be there to greet them when they returned home.

Georgia National Guard returns from Afghanistan to cheering families
By Jeremy Redmon


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fort Stewart -- Soldiers from Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team returned to a hero’s welcome here early Tuesday morning after spending a year in Afghanistan training that country’s police and security forces.

More than 70 Georgia National Guard soldiers emerged from several buses, formed ranks on Cottrell Field and listened patiently as the military played recordings of the National Anthem and the Army Song. After a short speech from Brig Gen. Maria Britt, commander of Georgia’s Army National Guard, the soldiers were released to their loved ones.

Cheering and crying with excitement, scores of wives, mothers, fathers and children rushed across the field to the soldiers. Kimberly Smith, of Covington, was among them, scrambling up to her husband, Sgt. Argo Smith.

“I’m not going to let go,” she said as she hugged Argo, whom she met at Tucker High School before they got married 16 years ago. “I can touch him. I can put my hands on him. He’s here.”
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Georgia National Guard returns from Afghanistan