National Guard soldiers welcomed home by friends and family

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Family and friends welcomed 21 men and women with the Indiana National Guard back home after more than a year overseas.

"(It feels) very good, very good to be back on American soil," Staff Sgt. Gerald Gibson with the Indiana National Guard said after arriving home. They are members of the 178th Finance Detachment that landed at Indianapolis International Airport around 6 p.m. Sunday.

Staff Sgt. Gerald Gibson and his wife, Sgt. Shannon Gibson, were deployed to Kosovo together to help NATO troops. The Gibson's family couldn't wait to see them.

"Its been extremely hard because me and my sister are close but we've been able to keep contact on the web cam and the e-mail and occasionally phone calls. So that has helped a lot, because if I can hear from her and I can see her on the web cam then I can know that she is doing well," Sgt. Shannon Gibson's sister, Ellen Herald, said.

"It just feels good just to see everybody and the tour was a good tour we got to see Kosovo get their independence while we was there and they really thanked us for being there and being present in the peace keeping detail," Sgt. Shannon Gibson said.

The Gibson's and the rest of the troops are expected at Camp Atterbury first then they can spend more time with their families.

Report by Gene Rodriguez, WISH. Edited by Jackie Carpenter.