Big John carries on

They had driven in from Worcester, made their way through Boston's confusing streets, and navigated staggered rings of security. By 10 a.m., the Gibree family was on the waterfront, straining to see Petty Officer Raymond Gibree Jr., 24, on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy.

Before long they spotted him and began waving and talking to him by cellphone. Two hours later, Gibree had come ashore to greet his father, mother, and identical twin sisters with a series of ferocious hugs.

''I didn't think it was going to be this hard, just to see them," he said, as tears ran down his face. ''But it's pretty hard. I missed them a lot. It's hard to put it into words exactly how I feel."

Several such reunions mixed with welcoming celebrations yesterday, as the massive John F. Kennedy arrived at the Marine Industrial Park's North Jetty in South Boston for a weekend series of events to help commemorate Armed Forces Day tomorrow. The ship, based in Mayport, Fla., has brought more than 3,100 crew members to town, along with about 525 members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a North Carolina-based outfit that returned in February from an eight-month tour in Iraq.

This weekend, the ship will be open for public tours that are expected to draw tens of thousands. Marines will display equipment and set up a giant inflatable obstacle course today in front of Faneuil Hall. Tomorrow about 350 Marines will parade through South Boston.

And thousands of sailors and Marines will descend on Boston for what all agreed is some much-needed R&R. As they gathered last night at the Seaport World Trade Center for a ''Salute the Troops" reception, complete with American flags stuck in finger sandwiches, many Marines and sailors said they are already feeling right at home.

Chief Warrant Officer Mike Horgan, 51, of Milton, said he hasn't experienced many receptions as warm as yesterday's during his 28 years of military service. But he said the men with whom he spent seven months in Iraq deserved the show of support.

''I've waited my entire career to go with a bunch of Marines as brave, as qualified, as energetic as these young men," Horgan said. ''And I'll go again if they ask me."

Lance Corporal Andy Hunnefeld, 21, of Plymouth, who has served one tour in Iraq, said it felt good to mingle with civilians after living on a military base.

''Here, it's kind of a big deal," he said, holding a beer in one hand and a soft pretzel in the other.

The Marines are guests on the Kennedy, which Gibree and others referred to as Big John, a gray steel colossus that is as tall as a 23-story building from its keel to the top of its masts. The Marines flew to Mayport Monday before embarking on the voyage to Boston and be with the ship when it docks in midtown Manhattan for more celebrations next week.

Their unit -- led by Colonel Ron Johnson, a Duxbury native -- saw difficult duty in Iraq, said the unit's spokesman, Captain David Nevers. Most were stationed south of Baghdad, in a region rife with car bombs, mortars, and small-arms fire. The unit suffered deaths of 15 of its own members and 20 other troops under its command, Nevers said.

But he said the Marines left Iraq on a high note, after 70 percent of the local population ''felt safe enough to go and cast their ballots" in the January elections.

Yesterday, the Kennedy was sporting red, white, and blue bunting as it towered over a knot of about 30 friends and family members waiting in the bright sun alongside the North Jetty. Sailors worked in the morning sun to string brightly colored flags from the ship's island, the superstructure that rises above the 4.56-acre flight deck.

Inside one of the ship's cavernous hangars, sailors and Marines prepared to host visitors, displaying military weaponry, trucks, and armored vehicles. Parked on the flight deck was a full-scale mockup of the F-35, the Joint Strike Fighter, still in development by defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Also on deck were several helicopters, an E2C Hawkeye early warning radar aircraft, and F/A-18 fighter aircraft.

Gibree, who enlisted with his brother, John Mattero, after Sept. 11, 2001, was looking forward to a weekend at home.

In the 18 months that Gibree, a weapons and elevator technician, has been assigned to the Kennedy, he has been to Malta, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Spain. He was stationed in the Persian Gulf last fall, as the Kennedy supported Marines fighting in Fallujah.

His mother, Lisa Gordon, said she was overjoyed that her son was safe and on land. She also said she was looking forward to hosting some of his fellow sailors for the weekend. ''Who else would come to Boston to pick up sailors and bring them home?" she said with a chuckle. ''I'm going to take five of them home!"

Globe correspondent Scott Goldstein contributed to this report.