Georgia's 48th Brigade receives USO award

ATLANTA - Georgia's 48th Brigade - which includes a Gainesville National Guard unit - received a top USO state award Monday.

The Patriot Award was presented at a noon luncheon in Atlanta.

The USO Council of Georgia presents the award each year in recognition of "outstanding Americans and Georgians" who display leadership and "unwavering support" of our country.

The 48th deployed more than 4,300 National Guard members from across Georgia to the Middle East about a year ago. Most of the time, they were in Iraq and returned home only with the past month. The 48th includes Gainesville's Charlie Company.

"It's an honor for our civilian soldiers to be the recipients of this Patriot award," said Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, commander of the 48th Brigade. "These men and women have left their jobs and families to help fight the war against terror and accomplished a great deal during the year they were deployed to Iraq."

The troops were stationed in the Baghdad and Tallil areas where the Brigade conducted security and presence patrols, executed $22 million in civil aid projects, completed convoy security consisting of over 800,000 miles and assisted the local Iraqi leadership in building a new country.

Being the largest combat deployment of Georgia National Guard soldiers since World War II, the 48th Brigade returned home with more than 200 Purple Hearts and more than 2,000 combat infantry and combat action badges.

"The service of these men and women is critical to protect our homeland," said Mike Watson, chairman, USO Council of Georgia. "We owe so much to those who put their full-time careers on hold to answer our nation's call."