"I love you, I missed you:" Wisconsin families welcome soldiers home from Afghanistan

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A day of anticipation and joy for some Wisconsin families welcoming local heroes home.

As you can imagine there were lots of hugs, even some tears, as a group of soldiers returned home after spending about 10 months in Afghanistan.

When the love of your life has been gone nearly a year, and it's finally time for that person to return home, time seems to stand still.

A small crowd anxiously gathered outside the C concourse at General Mitchell Airport Saturday afternoon. The closer the clock ticked to the estimated arrival time, the more excitement and anticipation grew.

You see, these weren't just any passengers, they were Wisconsin's very own heroes returning to home soil from a 10-month tour in Afghanistan.

"I love you. I missed you," said Chelsea Kallander.

For Chelsea Kallander and Staff Sergeant Jason Turner, this reunion has been a long time coming. The pair got engaged about 4 months before Turner's deployment.

"We talk a lot," said Kallander. "It's challenging to figure out what to talk about for you know on the phone all the time you know when you because we couldn't really talk about much of what we were doing so it was kind of, I'd call her and say hey, how you doing, and that was about all I had -- so I kind of relied on her to be kind of the conversation starter," said Staff Sergeant Turner.

After so much time away, perhaps the most exciting thing is a return to the normal, every day things most couples take for granted.

Staff Sergeant Turner says this was his first deployment to Afghanistan. He's previously served 2 tours in Iraq -- he's hoping this was his last deployment.