Home for the Holidays

Staff Sgt. Andrew Drennan of the US 1st Armored Division holds his daughter Alison during a welcome- home ceremony at the home base in Wiesbaden, Germany, November 25, 2008. The soldiers of the 1st AD returned from a 15-month deployment to Iraq.

Sgt. Michael Strausbaugh embraces his wife, Shawna, at the Homecoming Ceremony for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at the Fort Hood Army post in Fort Hood, TX. This was the first homecoming for the Calvary after a 12-month deployment to Iraq.

Teresa Wright holds 6-month-old Lacienda Selby as Willie Wright Jr. sleeps next to her while they wait for her son who is part of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team,1st Cavalry Division to arrive at the Fort Hood Army post. This was the first homecoming for the Calvary after a 12-month deployment to Iraq.

Dylan Curry, 11 months old, holds US flags as he waits for his US Army soldier father to return from duty in Iraq before a ceremony at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, CO. About 280 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division returned following their 15-month deployment to Iraq.

Friends and family cheer as US Army soldiers returning from duty in Iraq arrive at a welcome- home ceremony at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, CO.

E3 Shaunous Wright carries his luggage as wife Tiffany walks alongside as they head home after a ceremony welcoming US Army soldiers returning from duty in Iraq at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, CO.

Sgt. Joseph Crandell of the US 1st Armored Division holds his 7-month-old daughter, Lena, for the first time as he hugs his wife Layla during a welcome-home ceremony at the home base in Wiesbaden, Germany. The soldiers of the 1st AD had just returned from a 15-month deployment to Iraq.

Children wait for their uncle, a US Army soldier returning from duty in Iraq, before a ceremony at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, CO.

Two-year-old Owen Hammond plays with his father, Cpl. Fintan Hammond's hat after Fintan arrived at Edmonton Garrison from Afghanistan. Family and friends welcomed home the last group of Edmonton-based soldiers returning from Afghanistan.

Chief Petty Officer Marc De St. Aubin, intelligence specialist, hugs his daughters after the U.S. 7th Fleet command ship USS Blue Ridge arrives at Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka. Blue Ridge returned to Yokosuka after completing a two-month patrol throughout the Pacific region.

Andrew Fowles is welcomed home from Afghanistan with other members of Company D, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry of the Illinois Army National Guard during a homecoming ceremony.

Staff Sgt. Keith Fidler kisses his wife Cynthia, as their son Kolin looks on, during a homecoming ceremony in New York, April 8, 2011 for the New York Army National Guard's 442nd Military Police Company's return from Iraq.

Army Captain Mark Arena from Leominster lifts his daughter, Abby, 8, in his arms as he sees her for the first time in a year at Logan Airport. His other daughter Rachel, 10, right, looks on. Soldiers assigned to the 883rd Medical Company in Afghanistan returned home to a ceremony reuniting them with their loved ones at Logan Airport. They completed a one year tour.

Children welcome Georgia National Guardsmen home from deployment to Afghanistan.

A serviceman kisses his son after returning home.