Guardsmen return from Iraq

NORTH KINGSTOWN - It seemed to take forever. First, the waiting. Wasn't it 3:30 yet?

Two-year-old Lexy Guzman held a sign reading, "Welcome home, our hero," made by her sister Alyssa, age 6, who in turn held one proclaiming that her daddy had kicked butt in Iraq.

The tears started when two cargo planes flew overhead, tilting their wings jauntily to bank. "Oh, my goodness! I could cry!" their mother, Vicky, said.

The planes disappeared. Several minutes passed. The frenzy of waving American flags and shrill whoops died away, only to swell again when the planes taxied back into sight.

The plane's doors opened. Where were the soldiers?

Some soldiers came out. Where was Walter Guzman?

"There he is, at the very end of the second line!" Vicky Guzman said to Lexy, who was perched on her shoulders. "Do you see him? Can you see daddy?"

The soldiers lined up in formation, facing the crowd but just out of reach. Vicky Guzman just couldn't wait. "I love you, baby!" she shouted at the top of her lungs to her husband, a specialist from Pawtucket.

The 103rd Field Artillery's 1st Battalion, A Battery, had been away from home for more than 14 months, and in Iraq for a year. But those last few minutes, with the soldiers in plain sight, seemed sheer agony to the families and friends who strained at the guide ropes and, when the ceremony ended, stampeded into the reception area to engulf the soldiers in a mad rush of hugs.

Of 84 members of A Battery who left Jan. 5, 2004, 66 returned to Quonset Point yesterday. Three volunteered to stay in Iraq. Another 14 chose to attend a two-week training in Oklahoma, but will be back in Rhode Island afterward.

One member of A Battery didn't come home.

Sgt. Christopher Potts, of Tiverton, was killed Oct. 3 during a patrol mission. His team had been detaining insurgents suspected of building improvised rocket launchers for use against U.S. forces.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, four Rhode Island National Guardsmen have been killed in combat, and eight other military personnel from Rhode Island have died overseas. About 800 Rhode Island National Guard members are still deployed overseas in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, Yemen and Kenya.

Potts' widow, Terri, received flowers yesterday.

The returning Guard members released red helium-filled balloons to signify a safe return. Along with the red balloons, three gold ones floated skyward in memory of Sgt. Potts.

A Battery conducted military police patrols in and around Baghdad and helped train the Iraqi police.

It was the first time since World War II that the Providence-based 103rd Field Artillery had been deployed. This was a different war, in a different time, for different reasons, but not much had changed in the homecoming scene: Sweethearts with faces made up and hair carefully curled; daughters in dress shoes and tights; and not a dry eye anywhere.

A Battery's long road home started March 16, when it flew from Iraq to Kuwait. Then it was Germany, Maine and Oklahoma, where the troops spent six days.

They arrived in Rhode Island just in time for a real New England welcome: a late-March snowstorm.

The weather came as a relief. While it was only about 80 degrees in Iraq when they left, temperatures ranged up to 150 Fahrenheit, the soldiers said.

In Maine, during a refueling stop, they were so happy to see snow that they started a snowball fight.

The warmth of the reception seemed to quell any resentment over the impending storm.

"I wouldn't mind being able to build a snowman in the morning," Specialist Kim Krajczynski said.

Krajczynski, 36, of Burrillville, who works at CVS' corporate warehouse, said he looked forward to "just going for a walk with my wife and sitting in front of the fireplace -- all these little things that you take for granted."

Krajczynski's aunt and cousin stood on either side of him. He hugged their shoulders, as if he couldn't quite believe they were really there. On the other side of Krajczynski's aunt, stood his wife, Joan. Krajczynski clutched her hand while greeting well-wishers. When the conversation lulled, his eyes drifted to Joan. "I love you," she mouthed.

Specialist Justin Bates, 25, a full-time National Guardsman who lives in Bristol, said he was eager to get reacquainted with his family. His son, Aidan, was born in February 2004.

Bates clutched his wife, Noelani, tightly as their daughter, Kaiulani, 6, spelled her name for a reporter.

"You couldn't do that when I left," Bates said, and kissed Kaiulani's forehead.

Staff Sgt. Michael Zompa, 31, a sign installer from Smithfield, married his wife, Erin, on Nov. 29, 2003, barely more than a month before Zompa's deployment.

Asked whether they had any children, Zompa said no, but added quickly, "soon, now that I'm home." He thought a second longer. "Almost immediately," he said.

By and large, the soldiers said they were most excited to get back to life's simple pleasures. Specialist Michael Bettencourt, 24, of Warren, when asked what he looked forward to most, said: "Just being home."