SAN ANTONIO – Local military installations are releasing service members for the holidays and that means more than 3,000 service personnel are traveling through San Antonio International Airport over a two-day period.
"My brother and my sister-in-law are going to come up from Los Angeles. I'm in Sacramento. So it'll be good to see them, just hang out with friends, relax, probably get some sleep. We don't have a lot of that in basic training," Army Pvt. Caitlin Le Bas said.
Pvt. 1st Class Jose Tafus hasn't seen his son in eight months and just missed celebrating his first birthday.
"It's a little hard. I left him when he was about 4 months old. So seeing him now is going to be weird, because he has all his teeth and his hair, and he's starting to walk," Tafus said. "Probably going to buy him a whole bunch of gifts, take him out. I haven't really experienced being a father for too long, so I just want to go out with him and get to know my son."
Pvt. 2nd Class Kristina Tingley was also looking forward to seeing her son, who just turned 2. She said she expected to cry.
"I'm hoping he just runs to me. That's what every soldier mother wishes when she sees her child after a long time," Tingley said.
The heavy crowds of military personnel are expected to pick up again early Saturday morning.