At the Tullahoma Armory on Sunday, Williams welcomed home her son, Gary Williams Jr., and the other soldiers in the 1175th Transportation Company, which has spent the last year in Iraq.

Some of the soldiers hail from Bedford County.

Hundreds waved posters and cheered for the busloads of Guardsmen, who were escorted to the armory by law enforcement motorcade and motorcyclists.

Capt. Hud Moore said the unit moved heavy equipment back and forth from Kuwait to various locations in Iraq since last summer, and all of its members returned safely.

It was the company's second deployment in three years.