Marines and sailors are welcomed

The signs -- mostly hand-drawn, all heartfelt -- told a story of stress and joy as 300 Marines and sailors returned Sunday to their base at Camp Pendleton after a year in Iraq.

“Welcome Home From Iraq, Half Of My Heart Has Returned.”

“Welcome home Daddy! Can I have a puppy?”

“Kayla Loves Riley.”

“Babe, 386 Days of Deployment Over!”

Along with the signs came stories of how families coped with having a loved one in a war zone.

“I tried keeping busy, lots of positive thoughts, and lots and lots of prayer,” said Barbi Saville, 39, as she waited for her daughter, Cpl. Chantel Saville, 21.

Merideth Maggard, 23, of Prattville, Ala., whose husband, Cpl. Seth Maggard, 22, is a combat photographer in Regimental Combat Team 5, said that when she was lonely, it helped to telephone other Marine wives.

“They understand,” she said. “I could cry, and they knew why. You want to call your Marine, but you can’t.”

Sara Dexter, 52, of Seattle, found one way to deal with her 20-year-old son’s absence was to stay busy sending him small packages. “Every week he got a package of goodies,” she said. “On my low days, it helped to go to the store and buy something to send him.”

Dexter and her mother, Marilyn Giess, 82, held aloft their sign as the Marines marched into view: “Welcome Home RCT 5. We Love You Cpl. Keith Dexter.”

Ronna Ketterling, 59, of San Clemente remembered when her son, Cpl. Robert Schur II, 25, left for Iraq.

“It was the worst night of my life,” she said. “But this is the best: My baby is coming home.”

Her sign had a simple message: “Robert Charles You Make Your Mother Proud.”

While most of the signs -- and banners and T-shirts -- carried similar messages of welcome, Kassandra Stewart, 27, of Orlando, Fla., held a sign with a simple request: “Marry Me, Cpl. Garcia.”

Cpl. Romero Garcia, 26, agreed without hesitation. “We’re going to Las Vegas and be married by Elvis,” Stewart said.

When the Marines of Regimental Combat Team 5 arrived in the western reaches of Anbar province, insurgent attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces averaged 16 a week. The U.S. had 50 outposts spread across the sprawling desert.

As the Marines came home, attacks had dropped to fewer than two a week, and the U.S. has only 10 outposts, with the Iraqis taking more responsibility for security. One Marine and one soldier attached to the regiment died in the deployment.

“For the two we lost, of course, it is a terrible tragedy,” said Col. Patrick Malay, the regiment’s commanding officer. “But we whacked our fair share of knuckleheads.”

The Marines’ and sailors’ immediate plans include family gatherings, trips or just relaxing at home. The future is a little less clear.

President Obama has said he wants to send more troops to Afghanistan and speed up the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Some Marine battalions are already training for Afghanistan, even though no formal order has been issued.

As he returned from his fourth overseas deployment, Navy Chief Petty Officer Aaron McLeod, 37, a corpsman, was greeted by family members wearing red T-shirts. His wife’s shirt read “Got Chief?” and his four children’s “Got Daddie?”

On the back was the answer, “Yes.”

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tony.perry@latimes.com