MARY VORSINO / MVORSINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Lance Cpl. Rusti Hamontree kissed Desiree Padilla last night after returning from a seven-month tour of Afghanistan with 200 fellow Kaneohe Marines.

Homecoming happiness

Families and friends welcome
Marines with smiles and hugs

Some family members brought leis, balloons and signs. But Roberta Upton had something extra-special to welcome her husband home yesterday from seven months in Afghanistan: a deep-dish pizza.

"I'm not cooking for him tonight," she said with a laugh last night as she waited with her 9-month-old daughter, Bryanna, for the plane carrying her husband and about 200 other Kaneohe Marines to arrive at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

The pizza sat in a carrying case nearby, sending smells of mozzarella and pepperoni through a holding hangar, where a band and more than 150 family members and friends gathered to meet the plane.

About 1,000 Marines from Kaneohe's 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, left for Afghanistan in November. Yesterday's group was the first to return. The rest will come in similarly sized increments today and this weekend.

The unit, called "America's Battalion," was replaced in Afghanistan by about 900 Marines in Kaneohe's 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

While in Afghanistan's central and eastern regions, the 3rd Battalion undertook mostly security and counterterrorism operations, Marine officials said.

They suffered no casualties.

The plane carrying the battalion's members touched down about 6:30 p.m. yesterday, and greeters lined up to present red, white and blue novelty flower leis to the Marines, all of whom walked in a neat, straight line down a red carpet to their awaiting family members and friends.

When the plane touched down, those in the hangar clapped while the military band struck up a tune. Children brought out homemade signs reading, "Welcome home, Daddy," and "We love you, Dad."

Cindy Campbell hid behind a group of women as her son, Robert, walked off the plane. She and her husband, Randy, flew in from Tennessee to surprise their son and spend time with him and his girlfriend in the islands.

"He doesn't know we're here," Cindy Campbell said earlier in the day, giggling with delight and getting a wide smile out of her husband.

When her son neared the hangar yesterday, Campbell jumped out from her hiding place and threw a lei around her son's neck. His eyes lit up with joy.

Nearby, tears were streaming down Victoria Caballero's face. Her husband, Sgt. Hector Caballero, was by her side and holding her hand for support.

Nearly out of breath with the emotion of the moment, Hector Caballero said quietly that being home was "even better than I could imagine." His two daughters, ages 6 and 4, tugged at his uniform as his wife gave him a long embrace, hoping to somehow make up for the months they were apart.

Before the plane arrived, cousins Desiree Padilla and Tiana Flores sat side by side, waiting for their fiances. It was only a week ago that they realized that their soon-to-be Marine husbands were in the same unit.

"I don't know what I'm going to say," Flores told Padilla, who was also trying to carefully choose the first words she'd say to her fiance once he got off the plane. "I'm sort of nervous."