Talk about soldier returning home for spring (9)
I believe the answer is:
originate
'spring' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'talk about soldier returning home' is the wordplay.
'talk' becomes 'orate' (orating is a kind of talking**).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'soldier' becomes 'gi' (government issue or general issue).
'returning' is a reversal indicator.
'home' becomes 'in' ('he's home' can mean 'he's in').
'gi' in reverse letter order is 'ig'.
'ig'+'in'='igin'
'orate' going around 'igin' is 'ORIGINATE'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for originate that I've seen before include "Set up" , "issue" , "Bring into existence" , "Arise, start" , "Create, initiate" .)