The reunion follows the troops' year-long deployment to Iraq with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

The Wisconsin National Guard soldiers who returned Thursday are part of the 3,200 who are coming back in stages throughout January.

"We are so blessed and fortunate to have our hero, Staff Sgt. Darrell Scace, return home from his second deployment today," said his wife Mary De Zee, Monroe.

"It has been a very difficult year and so much has been missed, but we are looking forward to having the gift of time to be together," she added.

De Zee is part of the local Our Family Readiness Group, who just received news of the troops arrival Wednesday.

Scace served as part of the C Company 2-127th Infantry serving in Iraq. He also served from October 2005 until January 2007 in Afghanistan with the 232nd Military Intelligence Unit in Madison.

De Zee, along with their daughters, Ava, 6, and Mya, 4, made the trip to Volk Field Thursday and returned later that evening.

That one hour to see their father is a difficult, but necessary, time for the girls and for their mother.

"We will only be able to spend about an hour with Darrell (Thursday) and he will participate in demobilization for approximately one to two weeks at Fort McCoy and then finally be able to return home to Monroe," she said.

De Zee said some couples choose not to bring young children to the plane meeting, because they do not understand why their parent cannot come home with them.

De Zee chose to bring their daughters.

"Our girls Ava and Mya can hardly contain their excitement. They are so eager to finally see their daddy again," she said. "It may feel like just another ordinary day to most people, but this is the day we get our family back."

One flight was scheduled to arrive late Thursday, which includes soldiers mostly from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Fond du Lac; and some members of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Appleton and Clintonville.

Two more flights are scheduled to arrive Friday. Troop responsibilities were transferred to units from the Texas National Guard's 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team at the end of December and will continue to do so as they prepare to return to Wisconsin in January.