DAHLONEGA, Aug. 28, 2006 – North Georgia College and State University students deployed with the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade Combat Team were honored at a welcome home ceremony on the campus here.

	Cadet Alyce Haldi, of Alpharetta served as a combat medic with the 48th BCT during its yearlong deployment. Haldi developed a passion for her work while in Iraq and is now part of college’s nursing program. (Contributed photo)

More than 60 members of the school’s Corps of Cadets served in Iraq and returned

home in May. A majority of them re-enrolled in classes, which began Aug. 23. More than 40 of those soldiers stood together on the university drill field Monday afternoon during the military parade held in their honor.

“To our returning veterans, we thank you for upholding the grand tradition of service to the nation that has characterized North Georgia for more than 130 years,” said NGCSU president David Potter. “We’re delighted you have back. All of us hope to learn from your experience.

“We know our Corps of Cadets will be enriched by your knowledge and your service,” he added.

Governor Sonny Perdue, Dahlonega mayor Gary McCullough and Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, commander 48th BCT, also passed on their praises of those who spent the past year supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Rodeheaver made it clear he never had reason to question what the cadets did when it came to getting the mission accomplished.

Returning members of North Georgia College & State University’s Corps of Cadets are honored by a military parade on campus drill field. (Contributed photo)

“The soldiers who served with me from North Georgia College, never gave me cause to hesitate when they made a decision,” he explained. “I knew those decisions were tactically proficient, and they were made with dignity and with respect for the Iraqi people.”

Toward the end of the ceremony, McCullough declared Aug. 28, 2006, as “48th Brigade Day” in Dahlonega and Lumpkin County. This, he said, will enshrine the service and the sacrifice of not only the cadets who served and came home, but also those who did not.”

North Georgia has 675 military students in its Corps of Cadets, which is part of a total student body of 4,800 undergraduate and graduate students. An estimated 40 percent of the cadets are military reservists, and many are combat veterans.

North Georgia's 'Deployed Cadets' Get Welcome Home From Governor, Cadet Corps

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Cadet Jenna Simmons of Milledgeville shakes hands with Gov. Sonny Perdue. (Contributed photo)