A larger than usual Thanksgiving Day crowd welcomed about 200 soldiers from Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait at Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport.
Friends, family and those who simply wanted to say "thank you" greeted soldiers with cheers, homemade signs and American flags.
"We are proud of the troops. We support them and we just wanted to be here to greet them on Thanksgiving," said Alison Hanson.
Erica Hall, whose husband has been stationed in Afghanistan for six months, said she wanted to surprise her two daughters. She brought her daughters to the airport under the guise that they would be welcoming troops home for the holiday.
Her oldest daughter, Mackenzie, burst into tears of joy when she saw her dad, Army Cpt. Jason Hall.
"I couldn't believe he was home! I had no clue," said 8-year-old Mackenzie.
While many troops headed home for Thanksgiving dinner, others, whose two weeks of rest and recuperation were over, ate their Thanksgiving feast at the airport before heading back to war.
Despite having to leave their families one more time, the soldiers said they were grateful for the time they spent with loved ones.
"It was wonderful to get to know my son. He was born 5 days before I deployed," said Christopher Cantu. "He's big! He was itty-bitty when I left and he's gotten so big."
