O.C. AND THE AFTERMATH OF WAR : At Air Station, a Wet Wait--and Wet Kisses : Reunions: A commanding general scraps welcoming speech as hundreds of family members and friends--braving a long wait in cold, damp weather--cheer returning Marines in El Toro.

The scenario had called for troops returning to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station on Wednesday to march in formation and into spotlights provided by firetrucks. They would hear a brief welcoming speech by Gen. Tom Adams.

But not even the power of a commanding general could overcome the emotions of hundreds of family members and friends waiting to rush into the arms of the soldiers.

As the Marines returning from the Gulf marched up the airstrip, the crowd cheered and the firetrucks’ horns and sirens sounded. And as military police officers tried unsuccessfully to hold back the surge of the crowd, the general leaned over to another officer and conceded: “I don’t think I’m going to be able to say anything.”

And then with an inaudible command, the soldiers suddenly broke formation and rushed toward the crowd. The loud cheers were muffled by long, silent kisses, as wives and girlfriends reunited with their loved ones--240 members of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161 and Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462. On another side of the base, Marine Light Helicopter Attack Squadron 314 had arrived earlier in the evening.

The hours-long wait in the cold and damp weather was suddenly forgotten by those who had longed for this moment. Most of these Marines had been among the first troops sent to Saudi Arabia last August.

Lance Cpl. Chris Friedrich had not expected to find anyone waiting for him. His wife, Darlene, had moved to San Francisco to live with her mother after their boy was born Jan. 4.

But a friend found him in the crowd and brought him over to meet his new son. Friedrich was almost speechless, staring at his son as he gently cradled him in his arms.

“It’s hard to say . . . ,” Friedrich said, his voice trailing off as he tried to describe the feeling.

But his wife said: “He’ll find out later, like at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning.”

Similar reunions were witnessed across the airstrip.

When Cpl. Michael Mendez called his mother in Missouri on Monday to tell her that he would be home Wednesday, he sounded disappointed that she had not already started driving to California to greet him, she said.

“ ‘I’ve never had anybody wait for me,’ ” his mother, Angie Panter, remembered her son saying.

So Panter, her son’s girlfriend, Michele Roggio, and Roggio’s mother flew out to surprise Mendez.

Regina Deems’ heart was sinking when she could not find her husband, Jim. Perhaps he had not made it home on this plane, she said she began thinking.

But as she walked away, she heard a male voice say: “Hey.” She spun around and saw her husband, who swept her up and carried her away from the crowd.

In another corner, Capt. Scott Carhart, a helicopter pilot, opened his first bottle of champagne since leaving for the Persian Gulf.

“This is my first drink in seven months,” he said, as he poured champagne for his mother, brother, sister and other relatives.

But not everyone would be seeing their families immediately. Lance Cpl. Chris Markontell stood alone for a few moments, looking for his Marine buddies. Because his wife is pregnant, she was not able to travel to California from Texas.

“I wish mine (family members) were here, but I guess that’s how it is,” he said, adding that he will be visiting his wife in a couple of weeks.

But it is still good to be home, he said.

“It feels great.”

SCHEDULE FOR RETURNING GULF UNITS

Note: Military officials caution that these arrival times are all tentative and subject to change.

Today: About 400 members of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 are scheduled to arrive at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station at 1:55 a.m. en route to Camp Pendleton. Also, 210 members of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 are scheduled to arrive at El Toro on two aircraft, one at 6:30 a.m. and the second at 7:30 a.m.

Friday: 220 members of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 are to arrive at El Toro on three aircraft at 1, 5 and 7 a.m. From there they will go to Camp Pendleton. Seventy-three members of Squadron 369 are to arrive at El Toro at 2 p.m. and 73 more are due at 4 p.m., all on their way to Camp Pendleton.

Saturday:

The first Army Reserve unit returning to Orange County from the Gulf, the 458th MASH unit, is to arrive at the Army Reserve Center in Garden Grove, 7070 Patterson Drive, from Ft. Ord. The time has not been determined.

Seventy-three members of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 are to arrive at El Toro at 6:30 a.m. on the way to Camp Pendleton, and a second detachment of 73 members of the unit is to arrive at El Toro at 5 p.m.

Two planes carrying a total of 140 members of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 are to arrive at El Toro at 8 and 11 p.m. Buses will take the members on to Tustin Marine Corps Air Station.

Sunday: 140 members of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 are to arrive at El Toro on two planes at 2 and 5 a.m. They will head from there to Tustin. Seventy members of the unit are to arrive at El Toro at 11:15 a.m. and another 70 are due at 2 p.m., all en route to Tustin.

Monday: Seventy members of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 are to arrive at El Toro at 5:30 a.m. en route to Tustin.

For information on local Marine arrivals, call (714) 726-2937. Regarding Army Reserve arrivals, call (213) 795-2356.