Carson City soldier coming home from Afghanistan

When Carson City's Kenny Falconer called his parents after eight months with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan, his mom, Gail, was full of emotion.

"It was like she had just had a baby," said dad Mark Falconer. "There was that much relief."

There were times during the 20-year-old's deployment when he couldn't contact his family for more than a month.

This time he called with good news: he's coming home.

When his parents and siblings meet him at the airport Wednesday, they expect the emotion to overflow again.

"I think we'll all get very much teary-eyed and be very joyful," said Mark Falconer.

The last time his family saw Kenny Falconer was December. He missed his brother Jeremy's graduation from high school, but will be home to see his sister, Cindy MacDonald, while she's pregnant with their parents' first grandchild.

Mark Falconer described his son's deployment as an emotional drain on the family. They've hunted for news of the 82nd Airborne on the Internet, learning about his missions along the border with Pakistan.

"They're looking for Osama bin Laden, actually. He said the terrain over there looks a lot like Nevada."

Kenny Falconer has seen a lot of change since his elementary school classes at Bordewich-Bray and Seeliger and middle school at Eagle Valley. But the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Carson High School prepared him well, said his father.

"It really turned him around. It did him a world of good."

Kenny Falconer, who joined the Army as a senior in high school, has a deep respect for the program's commander, Skip Cannady, according to his father.

He's based at Fort Bragg, N.C., and will return there after about 20 days at home.

"He said then he'll be deployed somewhere else," said his father.

He said while he's home -- where a "Safe Returns" banner hangs from the garage and yellow ribbons adorn trees -- he just wants to relax.

"That's truly understandable," said his father. "We're going to leave (the planning) up to him."

The Falconers may visit family in Roseburg, Ore., and Sacramento, but one thing's for sure -- they'll eat well.

"He said the first thing his platoon did when they got to Asia was eat some real food," said Mark Falconer. "He got tired of MREs (meals ready to eat). Kenny used to love barbecued steak -- my gut feeling is we're going to have a big steak barbecue."