Soldiers Return Home from Iraq
WHITFIELD: Oh, what a happy moment for so many families there at Fort Hood, Texas, today. The last of our brave men and women who served in Iraq are now coming home. This was the scene in Indiana earlier this week as 100 soldiers returned.</s>WHITFIELD: This homecoming happened yesterday for 60 National Guard troops in San Mateo, California. Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence is at the reunion at Fort Hood.</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I know you've seen a lot of these homecomings, and it just never gets old. But the thing that makes this so special is a lot of these troops in the case of Iraq, there is no next time. It's really hard to describe the emotion going on before the troops arrived. Kids were running around, jumping up and down. They had so much excitement, anticipation of the families. It's been a long 10 months. And then all of a sudden, this smoke starts coming out and the gate rises up and the soldiers come out like rock stars, literally. The crowd is screaming. Everyone tried to make the speeches very, very short because the highlight was seeing these troops rush into the arms of their loved ones hugging, kissing, trying to catch up over what's been missed over the last 10 months.</s>MICHELLE FREY, WIFE OF RETURNING SOLDIER: A lot has gone on. Our first one in preschool, our first one in high school. It's big. You know, we put one in college this year. It has been a very long 10 months but it's over.</s>MAJ. MIKE IANUCILLI, U.S. ARMY: There's a sense of peace knowing there's one less opportunity for us to be separated from our families. We know we still have our operations going on in Afghanistan, other contingency operations as they come up. To know what has consumed so much of our careers recently as a profession, to know that that's not there looming over us is certainly peace of mind.</s>LAWRENCE: So the troops have to report for reintegration training. Basically learning how to acclimate back home, to their families, like that. Then they get about 30 days leave to kick back, spend time with the family, and maybe let it sink in that they were some of the last troops to walk out of Iraq, and that for the United States the war there is over. Fredricka?</s>WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Chris. Before you deck the malls this weekend for more holiday shopping, just wait. You'll want to see our tips for avoiding that traditional credit card debt.