NC Army National Guard troops return home to emotional reunions in Durham

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Members of the 449th Theater Aviation Brigade of the North Carolina Army National Guard were celebrated Saturday during a welcome home ceremony.

The Millenium Hotel in Durham hosted the troops who just returned from a year-long deployment as part of Operation Inherent Resolve in the Middle East.

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One soldier was reunited with his wife, who had given birth while he was deployed.

"Him being gone while being pregnant and having a toddler and then giving birth without him there was the hardest thing that I've ever done in my life," the woman said.

Over 200 soldiers and aviators spent the last 12 months in Kuwait and Iraq where they helped coordinate over 90 aircraft for tactical operations, transported over 60,000 passengers, and hauled over 4.2 million pounds of cargo load.