BOISE -- It was a tearful homecoming Sunday for about 13 airmen returning from Afghanistan.
"Last night, I didn't even sleep thinking about it," said Ron Oswald, father of one of the returning airmen.
"Yeah, we're glad he's home," added Joyce Oswald, the mother of one of the returning airmen.
The Oswalds and their assembled family were very excited to see Travis Oswald again as they clustered inside the Boise Airport.
"We're just real proud of him," said Joyce.
Travis, an Air Force Staff Sergeant, Vallivue High School grad and the Oswald's son, just finished his third tour overseas (and first in Afghanistan) as part of a security force.
"Missions every hour," said Ron. "I think that scared me the most, and it was like second nature to him."
Travis' family said things just aren't the same without him.
"It's like a missing link," said Ron. "You don't feel whole until you got your whole family and that's pretty much all I've felt."
But as Oswald's unit walked through the doors at the Boise Airport, this family was whole again. His sister ran up and gave him a massive hug as other family members gathered, cheered and waited for their own embrace.
"It's the greatest feeling of my life," said Travis Oswald. "Being in that kind of environment without your family, it's kind of hard."
But Travis said he wasn't away from his entire family,
"These guys I deployed with, they're my second family," he said.
One of those guys he deployed with was Jacob Reyes.
"I've been gone from my wife for about seven months, and we're expecting a baby in less than a month," said Reyes. "Just great to be home. I've been gone, serving my country. Just ready to do my R and R and then get back to work."
"Everybody came back in one piece," Travis said. "So that's all I'm thankful for,"
KTVB asked Travis if he thinks people back home sometimes forget about the war in Afghanistan. He said it was hard to say for him, especially when he was surrounded by his family who were right there to welcome him home.
All the airmen KTVB talked to said the first thing they'd do once they got home, after dropping off their weapons and equipment, was sleep. They've earned it, and then some.
