Twenty four hours after President Obama said the combat mission in Iraq was over, members of the Little Rock Air Force Base returned home to loved ones. More than 160 airmen are now back home after deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
They arrived Wednesday night to a warm welcome from family. Troops landed around 8:30 p.m. and families were reunited for the first time in six months.
They all say the same thing when their loved ones return. They are anxious. Some waited for their children while others brought little ones along for the reunion.
"It's been a roller coaster of emotions really, and now we just can't wait. We keep waiting looking at the door thinking is that him," says wife Monica Willis.
"Every minute he is gone we're scared to death. Watching the news and the internet seeing what's going on over there because it is so chaotic in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are worried sick until he comes back home safe," says father Steve Willis.
"You do what you have to do and get to now and you're just super excited," says wife Jandi Eubanks.
"It's good to be back in Arkansas again. Get out of the heat and back into this kind of heat now, humidity. So it's nice," says Captain Henry Pflugradt.
"It's priceless. You are gone for months, you're sacrificing time. Then you finally get to see them and things have changed. Babies have gotten bigger and stuff like that. So it's really nice," says Joshua Novotny.
Every single family member said they are all expected to sleep extremely well now knowing their loved ones are back home.
