Returning Soldier Gives Wife Huge Hug At Airport

It was a long-awaited reunion for Erin Bence, 25, of Lake Saint Louis.

Her husband of just 18 months, Specialist Randy Bence, 30, returned home Sunday after nine months with the 1138th Engineering Company of the Missouri National Guard.

The unit was in Afghanistan to find and destroy roadside bombs, known as IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

The unit, under the command of Captain Jason Davis of Wentzville, was deployed with 94 guardsmen in July to Fort Bliss, Texas, and then to a forward operating base in Afghanistan.