Lincoln's 267 National Guard ordnance company returned home for a four-day leave. They been mobilized since early December and have been training at Fort Riley, Kansas.

Three bus loads of troops returned home early Tuesday morning with friend and family waiting for them. Frank and Norma Poppas of Sterling greeted their son David with a big hug. David Poppas, a full-time National Guard member says the troops on the bus he was riding were grinning ear to ear as they drove up the street and saw all the people waiting for them. Poppas says, "it was just great." Poppas says he was able to notify his parents last week that he would be able to spend Christmas with them.

Members of the 267 will have four days of rest and relaxation before heading back to Fort Riley. It's likely the company will be deployed to Iraq in the on going efforts of Operation Iraqi Freedom.