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Minn. Mother Welcomes Home 1 Of Her Sons From War

MINNEAPOLIS- As if it's not hard enough having one son overseas, one Northfield mother has to cope with both her sons in a war zone.

Lori Hauer's holiday wish came true Monday night with one son back home, and the other expected to return soon. Her son's are serving in Kuwait as a part of Operation New Dawn. WCCO-TV captured part one of their homecoming.

When you've been waiting for months to see your sons return from across an ocean, minutes can feel like hours.
"I was wide awake at 4:00 this morning," Hauer said.

Since birth, Dylan Hauer and his twin brother, Cody, have been inseparable.

"It's pretty much been everything Cody and I," Specialist Dylan Hauer said. "One day he's like, 'I'm going to join the National Guard,' and being kind of the older brother, I was like, 'Maybe I should do it with you.'"

Although they say it is comforting to have each other in neighboring barracks, they say it can make their reality more difficult.

"We'll usually talk and tell each other: 'Hey, I'm going to go out and doing this.' And it's kind of like: 'Hey, okay, where are you? When he should be back?'" Hauer said.

It's when facing that risk that their bond as brothers became most apparent.

"I'd prefer me do it rather than him, but then again, he'd probably say the same thing," Hauer said.

Hauer said he couldn't have picked a better time than around the holidays to be surrounded by family.

"Just glad that I can touch him, and it's all in one piece," Lori Hauer said.

The twins are serving a tour that is supposed to last a year

Cody Hauer is set to come home a few days after Christmas for two weeks. He hasn't seen his son since he was 11-months old.

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