SOUTH BEND — Local military families said goodbye Tuesday morning as their loved ones prepare to head into a war zone.

It was an emotional morning for the friends, family and members of South Bend based Engineering Company B — 45 Marines are being deployed to Afghanistan.

The troops will first head to camp Pendleton for training for about a month and half. Then they will spend seven months in Afghanistan.

Any way you look at it, it's too much time away from loved ones.

Lance Cpl. Cody Brake brought a van-load of loving support to see him off. Military service is a family tradition.

"My dad was in, my brother was in and various other family members,” he said.

Brake's brother died in active duty. His grandmother wears a pendant in his memory.

"This is his brother,” Doris Jastrzemski showed WSBT News. “We lost him a year ago. He was a special one, too."

Brake's family joined dozens of loved ones of other troops waiting to say their sweet goodbyes … like newlyweds Daniel and Angelica Lepper.

"We were supposed to get married August 2. The deployment pushed that up a bit,” Angelica said. “I was kind of bummed because I was looking forward to my big wedding; but it was all worth it. I know he will come home and we will have our big one."

And do sweet goodbyes getting any sweeter than this?

“It’s sad because I will miss you crawling, walking and talking,” Lance Cpl. Eric Gorsuch told his 5-month-old daughter Lindsey. “But it's the best way to protect her, going over there.”

As the time for the troops to leave grew closer, the troops held closer the ones they love. The buses pulled away to tear-stained faces and gentle waves.

In a few weeks the troops will deploy to southern Afghanistan where they will be building roads and bridges as part of a massive U.S. building operation. It’s also part of President Obama’s troop surge into the area — 2,000 extra U.S. troops are expected in the country by early next year.