SWANTON TOWNSHIP (WTOL) - It was a special homecoming Thursday night at Toledo Express Airport.
Members of the 983rd Engineer Battalion in Monclova returned from a year-long overseas deployment.
Mark Klevinger was overcome with tears as he welcomed back his daughter Dana, and for Mark, it just doesn’t get any better than that.
“Very good. Very good. It was a rough Christmas. I missed her dearly. She’s doing okay. Doing really good. I’m so proud of this little girl," he said.
The 150 members of the 983rd were based out of Kuwait and performed engineering missions in Iraq and Syria that included building and re-building schools.
For the soldiers, it felt good to be home.
“When I get home I’m going to relax. I’m looking forward to sleeping in a full sized be,” said Bret Bartson.
“The sand was annoying over there. So having a lack of it here is not that bad," added Bradley Sickmiller.
“Overseas is not a joke. Very hot," Jordan Good agreed.
Benjamin Barker said he missed being around family and friends. His dad John plans to put him to work once they get home.
“There are all kinds of things that he can do to help out at home when he’s not there. We miss him,"he said.
And remember if you see any members of the 983rd in the coming days go up and shake their hand and thank them for serving our country.