While we would much rather attend a welcome home event Friday, we at The Covington News have planned to bid local troops a fond farewell as they depart for training and then Afghanistan.

 The Newton County Commission, city of Covington and Main Street Covington have collaborated to host a farewell ceremony at 2 p.m. Friday in front of the Newton County Historic Courthouse. We encourage all those who can to visit the square Friday to show soldiers in Company B of the 1/121st Infantry of the Georgia National Guard’s 48th Brigade that we appreciate their service to this country.

 Men and women join the U.S. Armed Forces for a variety of reasons, but all share a common bond other than the color of their fatigues. All service members exhibit a bravery and loyalty beyond measure simply by deciding to serve. They also all leave loved ones behind, who are also brave and deserve our thanks for their sacrifice.

 For those overseas and those left at home, we have a space on our web page CovNews.com where you can leave messages for loved ones, share photos and post patriotic or get-together-events. Personalized pages can be created by clicking on the Community tab on our Web site and registering for free.

 The Covington News staff has started their own page called Supporting Our Soldiers, and anyone may leave comments for our troops on our page too.

 We hope homesick soldiers will be able to look at CovNews.com when they need distraction from the dusty landscape of Afghanistan and return briefly to this beautiful region of Georgia through pictures and kind words.

 On behalf of the staff of The Covington News we wish all soldiers many blessings for missions accomplished and a safe return.