A rain-soaked, faded yellow ribbon hung Saturday on the 212th Transportation Company headquarters sign off Hickory Valley Road.
But inside the U.S. Army Reserve building, wives, children and local supporters drew fresh streaks of red, blue and gold marker on poster board for the returning soldiers.
"Welcome Home 212th!" said one, decorated with glittering gold stars.
"Thank you" said another, the message surrounded by red, white and blue.
The families of nearly 200 soldiers who left this building for a combat tour in Afghanistan have awaited their soldiers for nearly a year. Saturday afternoon they began making signs and banners for the unit, expected to return in the coming weeks.
"It's actually ... I should be happy, but I want to cry most of the time," said Marissa Fulkerson, wife of company 1st Sgt. Brian Fulkerson.
Her husband came home for a brief visit in November, but as the final return date approaches, she admits she won't feel calm until he's in her arms.
The Army does not release exact return dates publicly for security reasons.
Two of the Fulkersons' children helped make posters. Mikkel, 14, and Anatassia, 16, said not seeing their dad for nearly a year has been tough.
Anatassia said she would wait with the family for his weekly phone calls rather than email him, which felt too impersonal.
Also busy making posters, Maria Wood said she and her husband, Staff Sgt. Jason Wood, have been apart for a third of their marriage.
The couple married nearly three years ago, and the sergeant started training for this deployment shortly afterward, she said.
They talked and emailed each other regularly, and Jason came home for Christmas, but not knowing what her husband faced each day took its toll, she said.
"I never watched the news, not one time," she said.
As a transportation company, the 212th worked all over Afghanistan, hauling supplies through treacherous combat zones.
Jason wouldn't share details, both for military security reasons and not to worry his wife, but one message was always clear, she said.
"He would just say he would be 'out of the office,' which meant he was on a mission," she said.
Jenny Brown, wife of Spc. Brad Brown, helped coordinate the poster-making event as a way to keep families occupied while they await the unit's return, she said.
She said the group plans to hang banners and posters along the route back to the headquarters so soldiers will see them as they enter Hamilton County from Nashville.
Her husband was injured early in the tour and returned home in July 2010. But she and their daughter, Ivey Brown, 11, have kept in touch with other soldiers' families as a support network, they said.
The 212th previously deployed from 2003 to 2004 to Kuwait, according to newspaper archives.