200 Marines on Way Back From Gulf : Homecoming: First Pendleton units could be here by Friday. Another 1,250 are on the short list.

About 200 Marines from Camp Pendleton are among 7,168 American servicemen and women on their way home from the Persian Gulf, the Pentagon announced late Wednesday, and they are expected here as early as Friday.

Another 1,250 Marines from Pendleton are on the list for early departure, but their return is not expected until sometime next week, officials said.

“The rest are going to stretch another week or so,” said Maj. Rick DeChaineau, a spokesman for Marine Corps headquarters in Washington. “It’ll be several months before they can get everybody back.”

“I know for sure he’s left already and we’re just waiting,” said Jackie Orozco of Oceanside, whose husband, Lance Cpl. Robert Orozco, has been deployed in the Gulf for the last seven months. “We just decorated the whole street all the way down the block with yellow ribbons and we’re just waiting.”

Meanwhile, relatives of other service members stationed in the Gulf took the announcement as a good sign that their loved ones would also be returning soon.

“We’re real anxious and we can’t wait,” said Debbie Guddeck of El Toro, whose Marine husband, Maj. William Guddeck, has been deployed in Operation Desert Storm. “I’m hoping he gets back before the end of the month but all we can do is hope for the best.”

The first group returning to Pendleton is Brigade Service Support Group 7, Detachment Alpha, comprising about 200 Marines, DeChaineau said Wednesday. The group worked primarily on logistics, ferrying supplies and maintenance, officials said.

“But this is just an element of the unit. This is not the whole unit,” DeChaineau explained.

Another 1,250 Marines from Pendleton are expected to follow soon. Camp Pendleton officials said they had not received notification of the troops’ return. “We haven’t gotten word yet,” said Cpl. Rod Dutch, a Camp Pendleton spokesman. “They have not made that information available to us.”

Marines in four Pendleton units were designated Wednesday for early departure but the date is unspecified. On the list are:

* 900 from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, an infantry unit.

* 150 from Surveillance, Reconnaissance Intelligence Group 7.

* 150 from Marine Air Group 70, helicopter pilots.

* 50 from the Brigade Service Support Group 7, Detachment Bravo.

Overall, Pentagon officials said, the early redeployments will total more than 14,000 troops: 7,386 from the Army, 1,854 from the Air Force, 2,177 from the Navy and 2,900 from the Marines.

The withdrawal plans were made public as the Pentagon issued a statement advising military family members not to travel to Middle Eastern or European hospitals treating troops injured in the Gulf War, even though several airlines are offering them for free or reduced fares.

It said family members may have trouble finding the injured personnel because in some cases the wounded will already have been evacuated back to the United States. Also, military medical facilities abroad may be off-limits for security reasons.

In cases in which the Pentagon deems it necessary for a family member to be with an injured service member, medical authorities can authorize travel at government expense, it said.

Times staff writer Henry Chu and the Associated Press contributed to this report.