LEILA FUJIMORI / LFUJIMORI@STARBULLETIN.COM Hannah Tory greeted her identical twin sister, Hawaii Army National Guard Spc. Heidi Lanias, with a lei yesterday at Wheeler Army Airbase as Lanias returned from Iraq.

Isle Guard unit
returns from Iraq

After a year in Iraq, Hawaii Army National Guard Spc. Heidi Lanias returned to the arms of her 4-year-old daughter, Anuhea, who held her tight and wouldn't let go.

"She cried when I came home in July for R&R, and she never cried when I left," Lanias said. This return, Anuhea was all smiles.

The 24-year-old single mom's family, including her mother, grandmother and twin sister, helped raise little Anuhea, who spoke to Lanias almost daily by phone.

Lanias was one of 180 Hawaii Army National Guard helicopter aviators and their crews who arrived at Wheeler Army Airbase last evening, along with a handful of Ohio guard members.

They are with Charlie Company, 93rd Aviation, deployed to the Baghdad area with 13 CH-47 Chinook helicopters last March. The unit numbered more than 200, with some returning earlier and a few remaining behind to wait for helicopters.

Lanias' large extended family and friends waited anxiously with leis and banners to welcome her home.

Lanias' grandmother, Lucy Lanias, 78, said Anuhea missed her mommy. "We feel sad but she loves us," she said. The four-generation household shared in raising the youngster, and Lanias' twin sister would take her niece on weekends.

"I always say, 'Let's say a prayer for Mommy,'" Lucy Lanias said. Some nights, Anuhea would remind her, "Grandma, you never say a prayer for my mommy yet."

Her absence was also tough on Lanias' identical twin and best friend, Hannah Tory. "It's the first time we've been apart," she said.

Lanias surprised Tory when she returned on R&R, just in time to be a last-minute bridesmaid in Tory's Aug. 7 wedding. The two plan to go shopping, their favorite activity, today.

A live military band played the theme from "Rocky" as the warehouse door opened, and 180 Guard members marched inside, with the roar of cheering friends and family welcoming them.