Tears, hugs greet GIs returning from Iraq

Cheering friends, teary moms, proud dads and relieved spouses hushed for a split second before erupting in roaring applause as their loved ones marched on American soil for the first time in almost a year.

About 75 men and women from the 18th Field Artillery Brigade headquarters returned from Iraq on Sunday. They were running missions that included convoy security and base support operations.

Many family members said it was a hard year of separation and anxiety, but most got through it by keeping in regular touch with the soldiers, via e-mail, phone calls and letters.

The Army brigade has sent about 1,300 of its 1,800 soldiers to Iraq since September 2005.

Thanks to facilities stocked with computers and telephones, soldiers were able to keep in regular touch with loved ones, making the thousands of miles between the United States and Iraq seem a little bit shorter.

Kadeisha Cornell and her husband, Sgt. Thomas Cornell, talked almost every day while he was gone.

“They knew me at the MWR by name,” Cornell said. “I had my same spot every day where I would sit and call her.”

Read the rest at the Fayetteville Observor