Yellow ribbons will greet returning Georgia Guard members

<p>Supporters of the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade are tying yellow ribbons around hundreds of sign posts and trees to welcome the troops home from their deadly, one-year combat mission in Iraq.</p><p>Gayle and Dewey Cooper of Tifton, whose nephew Scott Rainwater serves in the brigade, drove along U.S. Highway 82 in Tift County recently to place ribbons at strategic locations.</p><p>The 4,000-member brigade, Georgia's largest National Guard unit, is expected to return between mid-April and mid-May.</p><p>Mrs. Cooper said she got the idea when she saw ribbons along the road while she was driving home from Fort Stewart, near Savannah, with Rainwater's wife, Jennifer.</p><p>"We support them wholeheartedly," Mrs. Cooper said. "They have really worked hard for us. We wanted to do something for them."</p><p>She estimated that about 700-800 ribbons have been placed along 23 miles of Route 82 in Tift County. Ribbons are also going up in Sylvester and Ty Ty and a billboard is planned in Albany.</p><p>On a somber note, supporters also plan to hang 26 black ribbons in downtown Tifton. They represent the 26 brigade members who died during the mission in Iraq.</p><p>Members of the brigade's 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, which drills at armories throughout southwest Georgia, are expected to arrive later this month. Once they are released, they will travel by convoy from Fort Stewart to the battalion's headquarters in Albany.</p><p>Supporters are urging people to greet the convoy as it passes with signs, flags or just a smile and a wave.</p>