FORT BRAGG (WTVD) -- After spending more than eight months fighting in Afghanistan, more than 100 paratroopers from Fort Bragg returned home Friday.The men and women are from the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which is part of the 82nd Airborne Division.Six- year-old Hannah Hourigan said waiting for her Army dad to come home was the hardest thing she has ever had to do!"I was crying when he gone and worried about him," said Hannah.She is happy now, however. Her father was one of the soldiers who came home Friday night.Renee Kimball and her husband traveled from California to welcome their son back for his second combat deployment."The whole time he was apart from us, I never knew where he was or what he was doing," said Kimball.The soldiers deployed to Afghanistan back in January. Their mission in Southern Afghanistan was security and training Afghan forces."We were proud to be able to do it, and I am glad to be home after all this," said Spc. Kristopher McCarrick.Army wife Alana Kimball said it was great to have her husband back in her arms."I have no words," she said. "It's amazing. It's so great."Commanders welcomed the troops back saying the country owed them a great debt we could never repay.The troops will spend the next few days unwinding, and enjoying family time."It's great. It's wonderful to see my family," said Capt. Steve Hammer.These returning troops are the first wave of Fort Bragg soldiers returning from Afghanistan. Others will follow as American forces draw down their troop strength in that country between now and the end of the year.