LEMOORE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Emotions ran high at the Naval Air Station in Lemoore as more than 300 sailors returned home to their family and friends after almost eight months overseas.

Each second between heartbeats felt longer on Sunday as families and friends waited for loved ones to return to naval air station Lemoore.

They spent nearly 9 months apart as sailors on the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier were stationed overseas.

The 260-day deployment was a first for military wife Tricia Sisely.

“This is our first one, we have never gone through anything like this before we also have a two-year-old son and I’ve been by myself the entire time which has been a journey in itself as a first-time mom,” Sisely explained.

Besides the help of family and friends, she says the main thing that has got her through the months of separation was the brief moments of communication with her husband.

“With the navy and aircraft carriers, you don’t get to hear from them at all and most communication is through email,” said Sisely.

While the deployment has been hard for many, Hang Nguyen says after going through three deployments as a military wife she has gotten used to it.

“You kinda adjust they are all different… It doesn’t get easier it just gets different and you will hopefully have grown from past deployments,” said Nguyen.

The wait finally came to an end after the plane’s wheels touched down and a short bus ride brought them back to their families.

“Every day I missed her and my son it was the hardest part of it… The thing about her home it always broke my heart every day and I’m happy to have come home for her,” said Service Member Jared Sisely.