Connecticut National Guard unit returns from Iraq deployment

Windsor Locks – Hundreds of family members and friends waited anxiously Wednesday afternoon in the airport hangar of the Army Aviation Support Facility for the plane carrying their loved ones to arrive.

And it did, 10 minutes earlier than schedule and three months ahead of the projected departure date.

Melinda Cosman of Manchester waited for her husband David while her daughter, Natalie, 6, asked where her dad was.

"He's almost here," Melinda Cosman said.

"They know he's been fighting to protect us," she said. "It's been hard being a single mom all of a sudden when you're not used to it."

At 12:05 p.m., about 110 soldiers of the 250th Engineer Company (Multi-Role Bridge) of New London stepped off the plane and into the arms of their families. The unit was the last major Connecticut Army National Guard unit to leave Iraq, said Maj. Charles K. Jaworski Jr., spokesman for the Connecticut National Guard.

David Cosman stepped off the plane and Natalie wrapped herself around her father's leg. After nine months with her dad away in Iraq, she was looking forward to playing Toy Story 3 on the Wii with her father.

"It's so nice to be back. There was always communication with them [the family] but not being able to physically touch them was the hardest part," Cosman said. "You can see grass and the trees and I can finally eat some real American food."

On a handmade poster held by his eldest daughter, Samantha, 7, was a picture of a meatball grinder.

"Oh yeah, I'm gonna go get one of those with everything on it. Pickles, olives, and hot peppers, everything, you name it."