Georgia Guardsman killed in Afghanistan

ATLANTA - A Bibb County sheriff's deputy who was serving in the Georgia Army National Guard has been killed in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Alex French, of Milledgeville, was a member of the National Guard's 48th Brigade, which deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year.

The Department of Defense said Thursday that the 31-year-old was killed Wednesday in Khost, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, out of Lawrenceville.

"Word of the recent death of Staff Sgt. Alex French IV deeply saddens our Guard family," said Maj. Gen. Terry Nesbitt, Georgia's Adjutant General. "This was Staff Sgt. French's second deployment in support of the War on Terror, having deployed with the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to Iraq in 2005-06.

"This hero's passing leaves each of us with the Georgia National Guard mournful, yet determined to see this important mission through," Nesbitt added. "I feel certain that Staff Sgt. French would have wanted us to do just that. Our heartfelt condolences are extended to his wife and three children, to his parents, and of course, to family and friends."

The Milledgeville Union-Recorder newspaper reported when French left for Afghanistan in March that he was the father of twin 4-year-old daughters and a 1-year-old son.

French is the eighth member of the 48th Brigade to be killed in Afghanistan.