EL PASO, Texas -- Spc. Daniel Mendez from Spokane, Wash., returned from 14 months in Iraq on Sunday, and he came to Fort Bliss, his home away from home, with no family to greet him. That's where KFOX stepped in.

"He was in a couple of close calls his vehicle, got blown up once, and they got hit a few times," said Gil Mendez, Daniel's father.

Gil Mendez wishes he could be a part of the cheering crowds, but the cost of flying and the recent snow in Spokane kept him far away.

"We're going to be real excited about having him home for Christmas, because we both missed Christmas last year also," said Gil Mendez.

The easiest way for people here to find their loved ones is through signs, so KFOX decided to do the exact same thing, making a sign for Daniel. The sign reads, "Spc. Daniel Mendez, KFOX has a phone call for you."

Finally the plane landed, and troops poured out one by one. Then Daniel Mendez showed up. The KFOX crew at Biggs Army Airfield took out their cell phone and within a minute of Daniel Mendez stepping off the plane, his family was right there with him.

"Hello," said Gil Mendez. "Hi Dad," said Daniel Mendez. Then a chorus of voices from Spokane said, "Hi!" Daniel Mendez said, "What's going on, I'm home!"

Daniel said he has waited for this day since he left, but for him the journey is not over quite yet.

"It is a little bittersweet, but I got maybe a little over a week to go home, back to Washington," said Daniel Mendez.

He told KFOX the contact with his family kept him going through the tough times.

"There's some days when you just want to call your mom, you know, you just want to talk to your little brothers and your family, and sometimes you can't do that, so it's agonizing for a little bit," said Daniel Mendez.

Hopefully for now, the agonizing can come to an end. On Sunday they were a phone call away, next week they'll be within arms reach.

Gil Mendez knows what his son has gone through all too well. Gil Mendez said he has done three tours of duty in Iraq as a 24-year veteran of the United States Air Force.