The image that we often get of the U.S. soldier is the one handed to us by Hollywood. This soldier, like John Wayne in “The Sands of Iwo Jima,” is a bigger than life figure who is too busy carrying freedom on broad shoulders to be approachable. The average viewer might enjoy watching this uniquely American persona on American Movie Classics — but would they identify with it?

The fact that we may relate to the real troops in the Georgia National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade makes their individual stories more poignant. The men and women who make up the 48th are beginning to come home from the Middle East, having deployed there last May. The reservists put their 9-to-5 jobs on hold in January 2005, when they mobilized for months of training at Fort Stewart. The 2,500 citizen-soldiers from Georgia, comprising about half of the brigade, said good-bye to friends and family to tackle a tough job half a world away.

The soldiers distinguished themselves during their deployment. They performed magnificently, as Brig. Gen. Larry Ross noted earlier this week.

And now they are coming home.

The first 100 troops arrived home Monday, welcomed back to Fort Stewart by teary-eyed family members and flag-waving well-wishers. The remaining troops should be home between mid-April and mid-May, according to Ross, commander of the Georgia National Guard’s 78th Troops Command.

The 48th Infantry Brigade’s mission wasn’t easy. People who have survived under tyranny looked to these men and women for help in rebuilding their nation. It’s a tall order, but U.S. troops have been just as fierce in fighting a sometimes faceless enemy as they have been compassionate in bringing aid to the populations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, the 48th made international headlines when troops arranged for an Iraqi infant born with severe birth defects to get a lifesaving operation in the United States. Troops discovered the baby during a raid in a poverty-stricken district west of Baghdad. The help dispensed to Baby Noor is what her family will remember about the United States — thanks to the 48th Brigade.

As the troops return from their deployment, take the opportunity to thank them for their service to their country. These men and women, who are neighbors and friends, made personal sacrifices in order to serve the cause of freedom.

We appreciate what they did, and we welcome them back.