'It's good coming home'

For nearly a year while her boyfriend served in Iraq, 19-year-old Elizabeth Fahy made do with Internet communications and phone calls to him.

Yesterday, her soldier's plane touched down at McGuire Air Force Base, and buses were bringing him and nearly 400 other members of New Jersey's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to Fort Dix.

Fahy stood with hundreds of people - spouses, children, and other family members and friends - all anxiously awaiting the troops' arrival. Many held babies, balloons, flags, and "Welcome Home" signs.

"I'm nervous, excited, and happy," said Fahy of Blackwood. "I imagined this moment, but it wasn't like this!"

The emotional homecoming - on a Memorial Day remembering service members who didn't make it home - came about 3 p.m. as the National Guard members marched onto a parking lot in neat military formations that quickly dissolved into hugs, kisses, tears, and squeals of joy.

Fahy's eyes scanned the crowd for 22-year-old Spec. Elwood Humphries of Blackwood.

"I'm going to have a heart attack," she told two girlfriends. "I'm shaking."

Then, Fahy bumped into Humphries. She screamed and kissed him as he lifted her in his arms.

"I didn't think there would be this many people. This is surprising," Humphries said. "It's good coming home - a lot more relaxing than leaving."

Humphries and the rest of his 50th Brigade comrades were part of the largest deployment of the state's National Guard since World War II and are the first large contingent to return.

About 2,800 citizen-soldiers from across the region have guarded insurgents in detention facilities, provided convoy security, and helped guide Iraq's transition from occupied country to fledgling republic. They served in Basra, Bucca, and Baghdad.

Some brigade members transferred control of Baghdad's former Green Zone, once the seat of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and home to one of his palaces, to the government in January.

The troops arriving yesterday belong to units across New Jersey, including about 130 in the 114th Infantry Battalion, Delta Company, from Woodstown, Salem County; 130 in the 154th Quartermaster Company, from Sea Girt, Monmouth County; and 130 in the 250th Brigade Support Battalion, Delta Company, from West Orange, Essex County.

"Now, I want to get back to a normal life," said Army Spec. Marcus Wild, 22, of Mount Ephraim, after being welcomed home by his fiancee. "This has been a life-changing experience - in good ways. You learn to appreciate things a lot more."

As he spoke, Wild's mother, Patricia Wild, saw her son and rushed to embrace him with tears welling in her eyes.

"I'm overwhelmed," said the 49-year-old Mount Ephraim woman. "I'm proud of him. He did a great job and now he's home."

Over the last year, many of the spouses cared for homes and children, paid bills, and went to PTA meetings by themselves as they worried about their soldiers on the other side of the world. Those pent-up emotions came out in torrents yesterday.

Pushing a stroller with her 7-month-old daughter, Riley, Rachel Monaghan, 24, was shaking as the troops began marching from a nearby building, where they had turned in their weapons, to another where their loved ones gathered.

"I'm so excited," the Laurel Springs woman said. "I'm anxious. I've been thinking about this day. It's been very tough" while he has been away.

After the couple were reunited, Sgt. Dan Monaghan, 25, could not seem to take his eyes off his daughter.

"Words can't express what I'm feeling right now," he said as the family sat on a blanket in the shade. "I just want to concentrate on being a dad and a husband right now."

For the family members and friends of the soldiers, the day had been an exhausting roller coaster. Brittany Hinman, 21, of Gloucester City, thought she was an old hand at reunions after her husband had been on two earlier deployments. But even she was feeling nervous.

"I've been thinking about this moment since the day he left," Hinman said of her husband, Sgt. Charles Hinman, 24. "I'll give him a big hug and a kiss."

Hinman was holding the couple's infant daughter, Trinity, who wore a bib saying "Welcome Home Daddy."

"I was nervous all the time, every time I looked at the news," added Sgt. Hinman's father, Charles Dunithan, 46, also of Gloucester City.

"Today is the most memorable Memorial Day he could have," said the soldier's stepmother, Rose Johnson, 36.

Spec. Wild's fiancee, Gabrielle Paterna, 20, of Mount Ephraim, was also feeling happy about her soldier coming home, but still was filled with pins and needles. "I can't even think," she said. "I've been dreaming about this. I'm just so excited."

Friends of returning soldiers also were waiting. Army Sgt. Christina Mosley, 33, of Browns Mills, had served earlier with Staff Sgt. Shereka Danzy, 26, of West Orange. She said today is Shereka's 26th birthday.

"I'm looking forward to seeing her again; I can't wait," said Mosley, who serves at Fort Dix and held "Welcome Home" and "Happy Birthday" balloons.

Gov. Corzine spent time chatting with the families and friends as they waited about four or five hours for the soldiers to land and be debriefed. The Guard members will spend about a week receiving additional debriefings and evaluations before heading home.

"The best picture you will get will be with your husband," Corzine said after posing with one of the wives. "I'm glad he's home safe and sound. Let's get the rest of them home and we'll really be happy."

In a statement, he added, "This Memorial Day is particularly heartwarming because we're getting all 2,800 home alive. New Jersey will do what is necessary to protect the nation. We've had multiple call-ups, multiple deployments."

Corzine, who shook hands with the troops after they exited their plane, said he was optimistic about "a slowdown in the deployment of forces."

The 50th Brigade "performed outstandingly," said Army Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, the state's adjutant general and commander of the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard, which compose the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. "The true measure of success is if all come home.

"To have this come together on Memorial Day - when we remember those who paid the ultimate price and celebrate those who are serving - is pretty eventful."