More than 120 citizen soldiers arrived back home from their tours in North Africa on Friday at the armory in Teaneck.
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Hundreds of loved ones gathered with balloons, flowers and homemade signs to welcome the soldiers back after nine months away.
Parents kissed their children and sons spoke about their mother's home cooking.
A father held back tears as he talked about his soldier daughter.
"She's my hero, she's always my little girl, she's my role model and I am just so grateful that her unit is home safely and thankful for their service."
One soldier was asked by her boyfriend to marry her.
"I was dreaming about this the other day, I thought I was being silly," the soldier said.
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Over the next weeks before Christmas, hundreds of Army National Guard soldiers will return home as more than 2,000 were deployed in early 2019.
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