Being home for the holidays is the dream of every soldier.
For 60 Fort Hood soldiers, an overnight flight Thursday morning was the best present in the world. Once their chartered buses arrived before dawn, the soldiers jumped into the arms of their anxiously awaiting family members.
"We missed him and we're glad he's home," Dawn Licata said about her 20-year-old brother, Spc. Brad Wyper.
The 60 members of the First Air Cavalry Brigade have been
serving in Iraq for the past 15 months.
"It was a very long trip, very delayed, a long wait so [I'm] happy to be home," Sgt. Shawn Seamans said.
World War II veteran Jock Davis came to welcome home one of his three grandsons currently serving in the military.
"The difference in WW II was we climbed off a train and walked
home, and no one was there to greet us. I think these greetings are wonderful for our troops coming back," he said.
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A warm welcome
Sixty members of the First Air Cavalry Brigade are back in Fort
Hood.
 
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There's no slinking off in the darkness here. These soldiers are celebrated for what they are - our nations' heroes.
Sgt. Scott Shaver said coming home for the holidays was the best Christmas present he's ever had.
Fort Hood says the military is in the midst of bringing home an estimated 18,000 troops from October to February.
So far Fort Hood has had about 4,000 soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Flights are scheduled to continue bringing troops home for
the holidays. There are three flights scheduled to arrive on Christmas Eve.
