There is strong and there is support-our-troops Army strong.

That strength was in evidence Thursday afternoon when the Austin contingent of 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry, Red Bull Division, Minnesota National Guard were welcomed home at the Austin Armory.

In all, 400 Minnesota National Guard soldiers returned home Thursday: 95 A Company soldiers to West St. Paul; 45 from the Headquarters Company to Mankato; 95 D Company soldiers to Albert Lea; 95 B Company soldiers to Rochester; and 90 F Company, 334th Brigade Support Battalion soldiers to Austin.

The soldiers were deployed for 12 months in support of the Kosovo International Security Force (KFOR) and Nato peacekeeping operations in Kosovo.

A large crowd greeted the soldiers.

“Welcome Home” signs, American flags, Support Our Troops yellow ribbons, hand-painted signs and personal messages painted on vehicle windows were everywhere.

Every family played an emotional waiting game. Bystanders, too.

Pat Piper, the former state senator, stood in the shade on the hot summer’s afternoon. Piper said she remembered when her mother and siblings welcomed home her father from World War II.

He arrived at a train station more than six decades ago with another soldier and there was no one there to greet the other man.

“I hope that doesn’t happen to any soldier today,” she said before the arrival.

Nini Johnson remember when she was part of the “Waiting Wives” organization that welcomed home her husband, Dean, from Air Force duty after the Vietnam War.

R. J. Bergstrom, a Vietnam War Army veteran, was there as he has for all the other homecomings at the armory.

So were Mr. and Mrs. Allan Wesely and their daughter and National Guard soldier, Sandie.

Allan Wesely was looking for someone to help him hold up a giant American flag when the troops arrived.

The Austin American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars Color Guard veterans waited in the hot sun unable to retreat to the shade of nearby trees lest they be out of formation when the soldiers arrived.

Cell phones were pressed to ears as families received updates from the soldiers on the two buses. “Stormy weather has delayed them,” “The bus broke down,” “Only 15 minutes out” and “They’re in Blooming Prairie; it won’t be long now.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I was here when the soldiers came home from Iraq, too,” said an elated Marian Clennon. “I don’t have anybody in the company. I just wanted to show my support.”

Next to Clennon was Betty Whitmore and her mother, Edith Whitmore, both from Winona, waiting for Jason, son and grandson, respectively.

Jason Whitmore, 20, went into the National Guard while he was still in high school, his mother said.

He’s not very good at writing letters,” his grandmother said.

Kosovo was his first deployment.

“I’m excited to see him, but I’m also a little scared because he’s expecting to be deployed again in the fall to Afghanistan or Iraq,” said the grandmother.

Clennon and the Whitmores agreed, they believe American patriotism is “still strong,” Clennon said.

Michelle Etherington, Estherville, Iowa, was waiting for Miranda Herrmann, a younger sister on her first deployment.

“She’s been in very good spirits the whole time she’s been in Kosovo,” the sister said.

Michelle and Miranda, are the only daughters in a family that includes three sons, and the older sister said, “We’re close.”

Shirley Anderson, mother of soldier Miranda and Michelle, carried a bouquet of yellow roses she brought for her daughter.

According to her mother, the soldier called home weekly while she was gone.

Charles Herrmann IV, Miranda’s son, was nearby and growing obviously impatient. Grandmother Shirley has been raising him while his mother was deployed.

The bouquet of roses was a present; Miranda’s birthday was July 6 and therein lies a story.

“The yellow roses remind us of the importance of our freedom and that we should support our troops always and there’s one rose for every month Miranda has been gone,” said the mother.

Kathy Tentis, Kellogg, was waiting for her son, Matthew.

She was among the crowd members wearing bright yellow T-shirts that read on the back “Our soldiers, Our heroes.”

The T-shirt graffiti also contained all the stops made by the soldiers after they were deployed in July 2007.

“All I want to do is take my son home and enjoy him for awhile,” said the mother. “He plans to go back to college and graduate school and get on with his life later, but right now, I’m looking forward to the hustle and bustle of him and his friends in our house again,” the mother said.

Patty and Bob Yaw, Alden, waited for a daughter, Amber.

Their soldier daughter has been in the National Guard for five years.

“Over in Kosovo, she went into schools and homes and the cities and asked the people what they needed and tried to help them out,” said the mother.

The peacekeeping mission of the soldiers included humanitarian efforts, too.

Patty Yaw’s plans for her daughter were to “give her a huge hug and take her out to eat wherever she wants to eat.”

The waiting game ended near 5:30 p.m. Thursday when Austin Police Department squad cars turned into the armory drive with two buses trailing.

The crowd erupted.

People waved flags, applauded, whistled and cheered.

The buses stopped in front of the armory where the Legion and VFW color guard presented colors and saluted the soldiers.

After a brief formation, the soldiers were dismissed by their commanding officer, Major Paul Luna, who thanked the crowd for their support.

Then the public homecoming turned into 90 private homecomings with loved ones.

Mothers showed their babies to their fathers for the first time.

Soldier mothers wiped away ears, fathers hugged sons, grandparents, other relatives and friends gathered around the soldiers.

Cameras captured moments to remember.

It was hard not to be swept up by the wave of emotions.

Sgt. Matthew Olson, Albert Lea, huddled with loved ones he hadn’t seen for a year. One tiny one was a daughter he hadn’t seen since she was five days old.

“I’m really glad to be back,” Olson said, a remark that was surely heard 90 times over Thursday afternoon.

Major Luna, Fox Company commander, kept telling people who shook his hand “Thank you for coming out today” as well-wishers came and went.

Luna, of Minneapolis, said, “I’m very overjoyed to be back with my family.”

“I led a great group of soldiers from the Austin unit. It’s been a great mission and we’re just happy to see the great community support for us and to be back home,” he said.

While the crowd played a waiting game at the armory before the soldiers’ arrival, another waiting game took place on the soldiers’ buses Thursday afternoon as they made their way from Wisconsin to Minnesota.

“There was a lot of emotions,” Luna said of the bus ride. “A lot of excitement, too, that we were coming home to be with our families, but sadness that we left friends we had been with in Kosovo over the past year.”

“Overall, I think there was a great sense of relief to finally be home,” he said.

Then, he was back to his daughter, Olivia, and son, Marcus.

Over in the shade of trees, the Patriot Guards’ motorcycle escort team circled the armory parking lot.

The members had no fewer than five soldier escort assignments to complete Thursday.

The National Guard requests the motorcycle escorts of Patriot Guards, including many Vietnam-era and other veterans, when soldiers deploy or come home.

Monica Mead, state ride captain for the Patriot Guards, said the Thursday escort was largely uneventful.

“Last year, we escorted every bus from the Wisconsin stateline to their units’ headquarters,” Mead said.

“Just to be part of welcoming the soldiers home makes it worthwhile,” she said. “They gave up so much. It really touches us to watch them reunite with their families.”

Hooah!