After nearly a year in Afghanistan, 14 Utah National Guard members returned home Tuesday -- just in time for Christmas.
"This is the best Christmas gift our family could ever get," said April Durrant, of Sandy, who greeted her husband, Master Sgt. William Durrant, with a hug and a kiss at Salt Lake City International Airport.
The reunion was all the sweeter because it was unexpected: The soldiers were initially slated to arrive home well after the holidays. Then their timetable was advanced, but it still appeared they would not arrive until the day after Christmas.
April Durrant said she and her two children had planned to put Christmas on hold. "We were going to kick back and have a movie night," she said.
But then, "We got word about a week ago," she said, and she hustled to get her tree up and do gift shopping.
Said Capt. Bruce Roberts: "It's so incredible to show up two days before Christmas. You never come home early. The Army doesn't work that way."
In this case, the group's replacements arrived sooner than expected. Then efforts were made to speed up the demobilization process at Fort Riley, Kan.
"Everyone was sympathetic to get them home before the holidays, and we were able to make that happen," said Deputy Public Affairs Officer Major Karen Nuccitelli.
Roberts said his opportunities for Christmas shopping were limited, but he managed to buy a few gifts for his wife, Marie, in Kurdistan and in Germany.
"But we decided being back together would be Christmas enough," he added, noting that because they were married Dec. 8, 2007, they will be celebrating their first wedding anniversary as well as Christmas.
The soldiers left Utah on Jan. 23 to provide training and mentoring for members of the Afghan army.
"We're glad he went over. He served a great purpose," said Kathy Hudson of her son-on-law, Sgt. Major Ken McClure, of Sandy. "But we're glad to have him back."
As Hudson waited for McClure to arrive, her three grandchildren held miniature American flags at the ready. "We wouldn't miss this for the world," Hudson said. "We cried when he left, and we'll hug him when he comes home."
"We always talk about the sacrifice the soldiers make, but we know the tremendous sacrifice the families make, as well," Nuccitelli said.
Another wave of Guard troops is due home in the spring, she added. The Guard still has about 300 soldiers, most of them in military intelligence units, still deployed in Afghanistan, and 200 soldiers in other parts of the world, mostly in Iraq, Nuccitelli said.
