Families reunited as airmen return home

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - More than 160 airmen return home from Iraq and Afghanistan. They were supposed to come back Saturday, but the weather pushed their flights back. Friends and family members were waiting with signs and hugs. FOX10 News was there when they finally made it back.

It was an emotional afternoon at Hurlburt Field, especially for one little boy. That's because seeing his father was a surprise for him.

Riley Davis thought he was going to Hurlburt Field to watch the planes land.

"It's a surprise," his mom, Jennifer Davis, said.

Little did he know, his dad would be stepping off of one of the planes he was watching land. Riley started noticing something was up when he saw all the airmen walk off the plane

"Is my daddy on there?" he asked his mom.

His instincts were right on point. His dad, Staff Sergeant Steven Davis, had been in Iraq for the past four months. Monday, he and about 160 airmen returned home. They were all in different units; some had been there for just a few months, others had been there for half a year.

Staff Sergeant Steven Davis couldn't believe how big little Riley had gotten.

"He's so big now. All grown up, it's just crazy," he said.

"It's tremendously great, been a long journey. I'm very happy," Tech Sergeant Nancy Hill said.

The past few days have seemed the longest for some of the families.

"Germany, to Maine, to Jersey, then here. The big delay was the big snow storm in Jersey. If that hadn't happened, we would have been here three days ago," Staff Sgt. Davis said.

Every month, Hurlburt Field has about 100 troops return.