Approximately 200 airmen from the Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing were welcomed home by friends and family Thursday after a two-month tour of duty in Iraq.
Gov. Jim Doyle welcomed the troops as they exited an aircraft at Truax Field in Madison. Afterwards, friends and family met their loved ones at the Wisconsin National Guard's joint headquarters for a welcome reception.
Tim Hruska, who attended the reception, said he was anxious to see his wife return after her two-month deployment. He said she had been deployed to Iraq previously, but her return home this time was special.
Hruska, whose wife works as a supply technician in the 115th, said because his two grown children recently moved, this was the first time he was home alone during one of his wife's tours.
""When I went home and I closed the door … the silence was deafening.""
Hruska and other husbands, wives, daughters, sons and parents filled the reception hall waiting for their returning friends and family.
Steve Resan, who arrived on one of the first buses of soldiers, said he usually ends up on one of the final buses after a return from Iraq.
""The last time he came back I got right up in the front of the crowd waiting with a bunch of people,"" his wife said. ""You are just standing there waiting and waiting, and five or six buses later, oh boy … but, he got on the first bus this time!""
""I just wanted to try something new this time,"" Resan said.
Children of soldiers made signs and held balloons welcoming their parents home. Garrett Lenzendorf, who wore a shirt that said ""Daddy you are my hero,"" held a sign that said, ""Daddy you are the best birthday present.""
""It's his birthday today!"" Lenzendorf's mother said.
The 115th previously deployed in December 2004, June 2006 and January 2008 as part of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.
