Get the Sleigh Ready; 9,000 Soldiers Going Home

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) – Airports, train stations and bus terminals are filling up with Army soldiers in uniform as South Carolina’s Fort Jackson gets 9,000 trainees home for the holidays. Army spokesman Pat Jones says most of the soldiers in basic and advanced individual training head home Friday and Saturday from the fort outside Columbia. Buses are transporting many of the soldiers to airports in Columbia, Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta, Ga. Some are being picked up by family members in private vehicles while others were being taken to train stations for their trips home. Recreational activities are planned for those soldiers who stay at the fort. Soldiers must return to Fort Jackson by midnight Jan. 3.