White buses rolled into Bethany on Monday as more than 2,600 members of the Oklahoma National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade continued to return home after a year in Iraq.
Three homecoming ceremonies were held at Southern Nazarene University's Sawyer Center, and similar ceremonies are scheduled over the next week as more troops return.
About 700 have returned to Oklahoma so far. The rest of the soldiers are at Fort Bliss, Texas, for processing before they return to Oklahoma.
During Monday's early afternoon ceremony, more than 100 soldiers in battle-dress uniforms with the familiar Thunderbird patch of the 45th Infantry Brigade, filed into the arena to waving flags and cheers from family and friends.
For Sgt. Brian Mai, Monday marked the first opportunity to hold his 6-week-old daughter, Kierstan, who sported a shirt that read "If you love your freedom, thank my Dad."
"This is the best thing I could come home to," said Mai, who returned for a brief Christmas visit late last year. "It was a hard time, knowing you couldn't be there for the birth of your child."
Mai's wife, Sheena, said she already has some work lined up for her husband when they return to their home in McAlester.
"He gets the first dirty diaper," she joked.
Maj. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt, the state's adjutant general, congratulated the soldiers on a job well done and said the brigade has added to the long and decorated history of the 45th.
"Thanks to the men seated before you, there will be another battle streamer added to that flag — the battle streamer of Iraqi Freedom," Wyatt said.
Wyatt said the Oklahoma National Guard also has implemented a number of programs to help soldiers reintegrate back into their communities, with emphasis on physical and mental health, financial issues and education.
"Don't be afraid to raise your hand and say, 'Hey, I need some help,'" Wyatt told the group.
Col. Van Kinchen, the unit's rear detachment commander, said the infantry soldiers had to adjust to a different role during their deployment — primarily providing security operations and conducting movement and transport of detainees.
Kinchen said none of the brigade's 2,600 soldiers were killed during the deployment.
"That's the best part," he said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
