Fort Dix homecoming

FORT DIX, New Jersey  May 25, 2009 (WPVI) -- Families could not hold back their tears of joy Monday. Their loved ones returned home after nearly a year in Iraq.

Perhaps nowhere was this Memorial Day more memorable than at Fort Dix. There relatives of nearly 400 members of New Jersey Army National Guard spent the day not grilling or swimming but waiting. They were waiting for the men and women they love to return from a nearly yearlong deployment to Iraq.

The soldiers, who were due in at eleven, still hadn't arrived by two-thirty. It was almost too much.

Some had been home on leave to witness the births of babies but they still had missed so much.

When the men and women of the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team finally marched into view anxiety gave way to unmitigated joy.

The soldiers will spend about a week in debriefing sessions before they can go home for good. Another 2500 of their comrades are due back in New Jersey between now and June 10th.

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local/state, amy buckman

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