Oklahoma Military Families Wait For Return Of 45th Infantry Soldiers

About 130 members of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will return home from Afghanistan and Kuwait Saturday. Many Oklahoma families are more than ready to see their loved ones again.

Back in June, Corporal Mark White was spending as much time as possible with his family, especially is son Camden. White was ready to get his second deployment started.

"We had a lot of good training and stuff, so I'm just ready go and do the job we have to do and get back over here," White said before his second deployment.

White's mom, Debbie Griffith wore his dog tags every day as she counted down the days until his return. Soon, Griffith will welcome her son home and say goodbye to a lot of worry.

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"This last Koran burning, I got real nervous," said Debbie Griffith, mother of an Oklahoma soldier with the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

"With the boys supposedly coming home within weeks, I was hoping it wasn't a setback."

White is among 2,200 Oklahoma National Guard members from the 45th Infantry deployed to Afghanistan in June. An additional 800 Oklahoma Guardsmen from the 45th deployed to Kuwait at the same time.

Griffith is glad they're all beginning to come home.

"The 45th are like all my kids. I'm so proud of them. I'll be glad when they get home; we've lost a lot of them," she said.

The demobilization process for Oklahoma's 45th Infantry is handled in stages. A group coming home Saturday is the fifth group returning from Afghanistan.

"All of them are ready to come home, and we're ready to welcome them home with open arms," said military mom Debbie Griffith.

White isn't a part of that next group coming home, but will be back on Sooner soil in the next week or so. Like all military families, Griffith is excited, eager, but most of all relieved.

"Once he's on American soil, I'll be happy. I'll be breathing again," Griffith said.

A big welcome home is scheduled for Saturday morning in Oklahoma City for this latest group of returning soldiers.