Updated: 01/15/2009 9:55 PM KSTP.com | 
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By: Nicole Muehlhausen, Web Producer
Returning Minn. airmen get warm greeting
After a successful mission, the Minnesota Air National Guard unit that 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS anchor Leah McLean and photo chief Joe Caffrey were embedded with in Afghanistan, has returned home.
Proud fathers hugged their sons, wives and daughters in the mid-January cold after arriving in Minneapolis.
"It was a cold day before the plane landed, then I got an extremely warm, welcome home," said Dan Meister, father of one of the airmen.
He is one of 28 airmen happy to be home after finishing a 45-day deployment.
"It was a long seven weeks. A lot of people say, ‘Oh hey he's home it wasn't that long,’ but on this end it is long," said Maj. Jeff Wong's wife Cara.
And for 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, it was a reunion between new friends. McLean and Caffrey experienced the airmen’s stories and were allowed to fly with them in November.
The airmen have 16 months at home before they will likely be deployed again.
Recap Assignment: Afghanistan