6,300 GIs Heading for a Joyous U.S. Welcome : Troops: Hundreds of Marines from California bases are among the first service personnel returning from the Gulf.

More than 6,300 American troops flew home Friday toward a joyous, grateful nation giddily preparing to embrace them with open arms.

Among the returning men and women were hundreds of sun-baked Marines from Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms.

“California here I come,” one Marine exulted.

“We’re the ones who took Kuwait International Airport,” another shouted from the back of a 2 1/2-ton truck as it lurched to a stop just outside the passenger terminal at the Jubayl Naval Airport here.

Quickly, the Marines bailed out, instinctively forming a line to unload their duffel bags and other gear.

Then they sat down in the rock-strewn parking lot under the hot desert sun to await orders to begin boarding. Some sprawled across the mountains of duffel bags, reading dogeared paperbacks or listening to music on their Walkmans. Others ate lunch.

“I hope this is my last MRE, at least for a while,” Lance Cpl. Martin Arteago, 27, said as he scooped out a dollop of cold ham casserole from a dark brown plastic pouch.

“I’m looking forward to going up in the mountains--hiking, camping,” said the El Paso native. “I’ve really missed that.”

Others, more exuberant, spoke of “the second thing” they plan to do after getting home. Some alluded to a new baby boom, perhaps nine months from now.

Friday’s departing GIs were part of about 14,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines scheduled to go home in the next five to seven days as the return of more than 500,000 American service personnel begins in earnest.

Earlier in the day, Lt. Gen. Walter E. Boomer, commander of the Marines in Operation Desert Storm, told his troops: “What you did you may have the chance to do only once in your lifetime--but maybe once is enough--the gift of freedom.”

Among those expected to leave for the United States today are 21 American former prisoners of war who have been aboard the Mercy, a Navy hospital ship, for rest and examination.

Amid Friday’s infectious jubilation, many California-based Marines also took time to ponder the meaning of America’s swift and decisive victory over Iraq.

“This is much more enjoyable than Vietnam,” said Sgt. Maj. Cecil Garr, 39, of Camp Pendleton. The 21-year Marine veteran has a 7-month-old baby he has never seen.

A number of other units from the other services also left for home Friday, including elements of the Navy’s Fleet Hospital 5 from Portsmouth and Norfolk, Va., and the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division from Ft. Hood, Tex.

“We trained for a lot of casualties--expecting a couple of hundred at a time--and how to triage. But we never had to use it. Thank God,” said hospital corpsman Christina Burroughs, 20, of Cleveland.

“It was the biggest letdown--but a happy one,” agreed surgical technician Karla Csepi, 28, of Norfolk, Va.

“I’m really looking forward to going home and seeing my family,” said Hospital Apprentice Deborah Bednarski, 21, of Cleveland. “You don’t realize how much you miss them and how much they mean to you until you’ve been gone a while.”

Hospital Corpsman Rodolfo Solorzano, 20, of Long Beach, said he is eager to get his life back on track.

“This thing has put a hold on my wedding. But I’ve been able to save some money for it--and maybe for a house. Now I can get back with the flow,” he said with a broad smile.

Solorzano also plans to resume his college education. “That’s why I joined the Navy in the first place--to save money for school,” he said.

Marine Maj. Gerry Boeke, 38, of Twentynine Palms, talked of news that the businesses of that desert city have been suffering from the absence of Marines over the months. “When we get back, we’ll pump the economy right back up,” he vowed.

“It’ll be nice to get back,” Boeke added. Over the telephone Friday night, he and his wife, a schoolteacher, began planning an Easter break vacation, possibly a cruise to Mexico.

Like most GIs, Boeke managed to save a large sum of money over the past seven months. “There’s no place to spend it here,” he said, surveying the desolate, arid landscape that actually looks not much different from that of Twentynine Palms.

Capt. Jerry Walsh, 33, last saw his twin boys when they were a week old. “Now they are getting teeth and almost crawling,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.

On Aug. 6, Walsh’s unit had just returned from Panama. Eighteen hours later, they were on their way to the Persian Gulf as a vanguard of Operation Desert Shield.

“We had a lot of good training, teamwork, camaraderie and a sense of purpose,” he said. “It’s good to see we’re out of the Vietnam Syndrome.”

Sitting side by side on the ground, in the shade of a large truck, were Sgts. Christopher Bussey, 28, and Gary Cebble, 27, of Camp Pendleton. They wanted to talk about their vanquished foes.

“It was easier than I expected,” said Bussey. “His own people are going to take care of him,” he said, referring to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

“He’s going to have to start from scratch, and nobody should help him out,” Cebble added.

“We’ve proven that we’re not afraid to fight, that we’ll fight when there’s a good cause,” concluded Gunnery Sgt. Arthur Perryman, 37, of Twentynine Palms.

He said one of his first planned activities is to go to church.

“I’m going to pray that this thing never happens again,” Perryman said. “War is no good for anybody.”