McENTIRE JOINT NATIONAL GUARD BASE, SC (WIS) - "(I miss him) so much, I'm going to hug him and never let go."
More than two months away from the hugs, it was hard being away from dad for 8-year-old Alex Fekete, his 5-year-old sister Madison, 2-year-old brother Noah, and mom.
"It was hard being home by myself with all three of them," said Kimberly Fekete. "But being able to talk to him really helped."
Rachel Hedley's three kids love talking with their father too.
"Sometimes they say, 'why does daddy have to go?'" said Hedley. "And I say, 'well you know he's protecting people and he's keeping people safe.'"
Hedley's husband has been on active duty for the past 19 years.
"It seems like it's gotten harder over the years with the kids getting older" she said. "They seem to understand more, they take it a little harder."
Preceded by the Patriot Guard riders, 87 Swamp Foxes came home to their families, including one father-daughter team.
"I worried about her," said Douglas Narduzzi of his daughter. "I worried about her on certain occasions when we did have some rocket attacks and we did have some scary things go on. But she's wonderful."
It was 20-year-old Lauren Narduzzi's first deployment.
"Together it definitely made it a lot easier, this being my first deployment had my dad with me," she said. "He kind of knew the ropes and how things worked on deployment and showed me around and kept my spirits up. We boosted each other."
"If I had a bad day she'd say come on, Dad. I'd be like, okay," said Douglas. "And she'd smile, she'd say, I love you in front of everybody - the command, higher ranking officers. She'd be like, Dad, I love you, bye."
One of those high-ranking officers, Wing Commander, Col. Mike Hudson says the whole team is a family away from home.
"We've got fathers and sons, fathers and daughters and mothers and sons out here so it is a big family," said Hudson. "We take of each other."
Going away doesn't get easier but coming home is always sweeter.
"It's a great feeling to be back home and be back with the family" said Douglas. "Everyday you just miss them, every second and you think about them. We missed it bad, I tell you, everyday."
The 169th Fighter Wing deployed more than a dozen F-16 fighter jets and close to 400 personnel in April. About 90 more Swamp Foxes deployed two weeks ago to replace the airmen and women who just came home.
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87 members of the SCANG 169th Fighter Wing returned Saturday
