MEMPHIS, Tenn. — More than 130 members of the Tennessee Air National Guard came back home to Memphis on Friday after a three-month deployment to the Middle-East.
With flags waving and welcome signs, families and loved ones greeted service members after they landed. The crowd was gathered outside the hanger at the 164th Airlift Wing as four C-17 cargo planes landed after the two-day flight.
“We’ve just been counting down the days waiting for him to come home and it’s finally here,” said Chandler McCann, a Memphis mother of four who was there to welcome her husband Maj. Billy McCann. “It’s better than Christmas morning, it just is amazing, the kids have their father home and I’ve got my husband.”
This was the largest deployment of airmen in the Memphis-based 164th Airlift Wing since 2002, as they supported flying operations in Qatar and other parts of the Middle East.
There was even a surprise proposal. Tanner Moss of Munford, Tennessee said he made the decision to pop the question to now-fiancé Emma Fletcher while he was deployed.
“I had no idea. I just thought we were coming to see him home but here it is,” Fletcher said, holding up her engagement ring.