Families Eagerly Await Troops’ Return : Homecoming: Members of an Anaheim support group celebrate news of their loved ones coming back, safe and sound, from the Gulf.

Tearful and proud, members of a support group Sunday celebrated the imminent homecoming of their loved ones, unharmed and triumphant, from the Gulf.

Kathy Collier, organizer of the 175-family Support Group for Proud Families of Our Military, said members had prayed for minimal loss of human life and a quick end to the war. “We feel like both of those prayers have been answered,” she said, referring to Wednesday’s cease-fire.

Only last month, at the Anaheim-based group’s regular monthly meeting, wives, girlfriends and parents grimly prepared one another for a protracted ground war. Some had already received their loved ones’ personal effects--letters and such souvenirs as Pepsi cans with Arabic writing.

Now, some have received news that their loved ones will be home by the end of the month.

“They’re now cleaning their gear, then they’ll turn it in and be coming home,” said Caleen McCleskey, 21, of Los Angeles, whose husband Curtis, a Marine corporal from Camp Pendleton, has been deployed since August and helped liberate Kuwait City. Married just weeks earlier, she said they will finally be able to start life as a married couple in Oceanside.

“I told them we’d have a big party planned,” said McCleskey, wearing a flag T-shirt and sparkly diamond ring. She added that she also has “a private party planned.”

She had exchanged news with her husband’s friend, one of three people from their unit allowed to use a phone. “He said no one in their unit had killed anyone. A lot of them wanted to. There’s a lot of hostility to the Iraqis for making them sit there that long.”

Wearing sweaters with stars and stripes, yellow-ribbon earrings and picture brooches of their loved ones, about 150 relatives and sympathizers--including Vietnam veterans--filled the gymnasium at the Crescent Southern Baptist Church where Pastor John Jackson told them God had chosen the U.S. troops to “chastise an evil nation.”

Military father Ron Muir called the rout of Iraqi troops “a miracle” and echoed the notion that God had intervened to save U.S. soldiers in an effort to punish those who “cursed” Israel.

Formed in mid-August soon after the first deployments to the Gulf, the group, comprising mainly Christians, has grown to include 175 families from throughout Southern California.

Veterans, veterans’ wives and young people said they were grateful and determined that the servicemen and women will receive the heroes’ homecoming denied their counterparts in the Vietnam War.

“My son is so proud of this country,” said Phyllis Skislock of West Covina. “He would die for our freedom. He just didn’t want to be spit on when he came home.”

Reaching for a tissue, Terri Morton, 26, said many people her age believe Vietnam veterans were treated unfairly, and were treated with disrespect for doing only what they had been told to. “I think things have changed a lot.” She attends support group meetings even though she has no friends or relatives in the Gulf.

Vietnam veteran Lee Puckett, 53, of Orange, said he was too embarrassed to wear his uniform when he returned from the war. But the support for these troops is “180 degrees” different.

“I wish I’d had this support in Vietnam,” said Cindy Atkins, 41, whose husband David, 45, now serving in the Gulf, is scheduled to retire in May. “This is wonderful.”

Psychologists predict the mood of elation and welcome will be healing for the returning soldiers, some of whom may be temporarily depressed upon adjusting to the routine of ordinary life. Some wives may find their husbands withdrawn until they reorient themselves, which may take up to six weeks, said Arthur L. Kovacs, a Los Angeles psychologist specializing in family life transitions.

Atkins said she has come to expect a period of adjustment following every deployment. But this time, she said, “I don’t think I’ll take him for granted. It’ll be a long time before I put him in that category again.”