Photos: JBER soldiers return home

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Families wait for returning soldiers on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at the Buckner physical fitness center on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. 159 soldiers returned to JBER on Tuesday, 96 from the 23rd Engineer Company and 63 from the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.

On Tuesday night, after a six-month deployment in Afghanistan, 159 soldiers returned home to families and friends waiting for them at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Husbands and wives, girlfriends and friends waited for over two hours as the soldiers were debriefed and bused from their plane to the Buckner Physical Fitness Building. Some carried gifts of roses, others hand-painted signs and t-shirts proclaiming their love for daddy.

As the soldiers filed into the building, those waiting began to cheer and wave. For those who had been waiting for six months to see their loved ones, waiting through a short ceremony and prayer seemed almost too much to bear.

As soon as the soldiers were released, they rushed to embrace their families, happy to finally be home.