Politics & Government

National Guard Home for Holidays

About 240 Georgia troops complete a yearlong mission in Iraq with a ceremony at the Clay National Guard Center.

Georgia National Guardsmen arrived home Wednesday, just in time for Thanksgiving, in a symbolic end to the state militia's participation in Iraq.

The played host to the emotional homecoming for the 1-171st General Support Aviation Battalion, based at .

The troops arrived in two groups totaling 240 soldiers—every man and woman who left for Iraq at the start of December 2010 made it back with no casualties, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

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The Army National Guard battalion, known as the Dragonmasters, flew 50 helicopters on 3,500 missions in Iraq, the Marietta Daily Journal said.

Based at Camp Taji, the unit supported medical evacuation and other transport flights.

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It was the last full Georgia Guard unit to come home, although a few guardsmen from the state won't make it back until January, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

You can welcome the troops home and thank them for their service in the comment space below.


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