About 200 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team arrived home Friday after a year-long deployment in Afghanistan.
It was an extra special homecoming for Staff Sergeant Joshua Middlebrook. His wife is a solider too and he had to leave her in Afghanistan. Now, he's home to take care of their son.
"Leaving Afghanistan this time with her being there was like, I had to say goodbye to her again. But I think the hardest part was just leaving our son. Because he was born right when I deployed, so I haven't really been with him much," said Middlebrook.
After fighting in Afghanistan for a year, Sergeant First Class Roy Frazier came home only get a beat down from his kids - and he loved every moment of it.
"She wasn't even walking really when I left. And now I'm having conversations with both of them. So yeah, definitely lots has changed," he said.
Walking around the crowd Friday, the thing that really stood out was the amount of children who came. And for many of the soldiers, their families were the inspiration to come home.
"It's been pretty good because we talked everyday - emailed each other and seen each other on webcam - so it really helped out a lot knowing I had a strong family to home to," explained SSgt. Joseph Flower.
Now, the unit is back home in time to celebrate the last holiday weekend of the summer and to make up for all the holidays they've missed while deployed.
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