By ALEXIS ZOTOS
6 News Reporter
KINGSTON (WATE) – Local families with loved ones in Afghanistan are celebrating after Tuesday night's State of the Union address where President Obama said the rest of the US forces in the Middle East country will be coming home soon.
"This spring, our forces will move into a support role, while Afghan security forces take the lead. Tonight, I can announce that over the next year, another 34,000 American troops will come home from Afghanistan. This drawdown will continue. And by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over," President Obama said in his speech.
One of those soldiers is SPC William Surles. When his wife heard the President's announcement, she could hardly contain her excitement.
"This is where he is in Afghanistan, and this is where we are in Tennessee, it says home is where your husband is: 7,296 miles away," Courtney Surles said describing the frame in her living room.
But after the State of the Union address, Courtney Surles is ready for her husband to be home with her.
SPC William Surles was deployed to Afghanistan last fall, just three weeks after their son Trent was born.
"I haven't raised him alone but not having a dad here, but telling him who his dad is, it will be worth it in the end," Courtney said.
SPC Surles is due home at the end of us this summer, but his wife hopes the President's plan could bring him home sooner.
"We've heard it time and time again, I just hope this time its 100 percent real," she said.
The young couple has been married for almost two years, and she supports her husband's career.
"He loves it. He enjoys his job, and it's really good for him and us as a family," she said.
But she knows being a military wife comes with its hardships.
"In the back of my mind, I'm always thinking he could leave again, there's always 'what ifs' in the back of my mind," she said.
But for now she's just concerned with making sure Trent's father gets to see his son grow up.
"Every package I decorate and put pictures of him and our family," she said. "I never want him to miss a moment.
SPC William Surles is one of 34,000 American troops that President Obama pledged would return home soon.
A local military wife is anticipating President Obama's pledge in his State of the Union address that her husband along with 34,000 American troops will return home soon.
