Thrill of relief as Maine unit returns from Iraq

WESTBROOK, Maine -- Bonnie Lewis stood in the bleachers at Westbrook High School yesterday, trying to contain herself. She balled her hand into a fist and forced it against her mouth, as she tried to stanch the tears welling in her eyes.

But after more than a year of waiting, it was little use. The tears rolled, and as her nephew's broad shoulders and laugh-creased eyes came into view amidst a phalanx of men in beige camouflage, she yelped through her smile, ''Scottie."

Scott Lewis, a first lieutenant with the 133d Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard, was among 83 soldiers who returned to a burst of celebration in this town outside Portland yesterday, many having narrowly survived the lunchtime attack on soldiers in a mess hall in Mosul in December.

The reception was buoyant, with pent-up anticipation finding an outlet in kisses and hugs, in riotous waving of banners, and the stomping of feet to the beat of the Westbrook High band playing military marches.

The soldiers, the first of several companies from the battalion that will return to Maine in stages over the next few days, appeared a bit stunned as they arrived. Many looked around the poster-festooned gymnasium and said they were overwhelmed by a feeling of familiarity.

''It's amazing how many things you take for granted," Lewis said.

Creature comforts were on the list for many for the evening.

Lewis, 37, who lives in nearby Dayton, planned to enjoy a chicken pot pie with his wife of 10 years, Lynn, and his 8-year-old daughter, Kimberlee.

Kim Purington, 25, of Biddeford, said, ''I'm going to go home and kick back on the couch."

The battalion's tour of Iraq was a rocky one, marked by a long stretch of calm, followed by upheaval.

Mobilized in December 2003, the 548-member battalion arrived in Iraq the following February. The unit was stationed in the northern city of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest, where it was assigned to rebuild the infrastructure of Erbil Province, a predominantly Kurdish region. The Guard constructed new clinics, renovated several schools, and distributed hundreds of boxes of clothing and school supplies donated by the citizens of Maine to villagers.

At first, the unit saw relatively little bloodshed. But insurgent activity increased in Mosul in November, during a US-led offensive on Fallujah, a city in the grip of rebel insurgents.

In December came the suicide bombing of the mess hall. Sergeant Lynn R. Poulin Sr., 47, of Freedom, and Specialist Thomas J. Dostie, 20, of Somerville, were among the 22 people killed. In addition, 10 soldiers from the 133d were wounded.

The lunchtime bombing was the deadliest single attack on US soldiers since the war began.

The battalion also lost Specialist Christopher Gelineau, 23, of Portland, who was killed earlier in a roadside bombing.

Members of the battalion were awarded 35 Bronze Stars for commendable service in a combat zone and 42 Purple Hearts for wounds suffered from enemy action. The entire battalion has also been nominated for a Meritorious Unit award for its work in northern Iraq.

Some family members of the soldiers killed in the mess hall bombing did not plan to attend the return ceremonies to be held through the weekend.

Jeanne Poulin, the widow of one of them, said she decided not to go so that her grief would not detract from the celebrations of other families.

''My husband died over there. My heart is with them, but I think it's better for them to be reunited with their families, without the added stress," Poulin, 45, a rope maker in Freedom, a town 25 miles from Augusta, said in a phone interview. ''My being there would hurt them more, but I am there in spirit."

The battalion, which includes 500 Guard members from Maine and 48 from New York, is a mix of men and women, some fresh out of high school and others graying at the temples. Many have roots in the southern part of the state. It is a storied military unit with beginnings that date to the Civil War.

The 133d call-up represented the largest Maine National Guard deployment since World War II.

The battalion's return to Maine was a formal affair, to start. The buses that ferried the soldiers from Fort Drum in New York were escorted by Maine State Police along a route decorated with American flags and welcome-home banners strung from highway overpasses. When the unit arrived in Westbrook, the crowd of hundreds cheered and snapped pictures from cameras held aloft. The battalion marched into the school gymnasium in formation, standing patiently as a commander intoned a few final words.

''This means the world," he told the crowd. ''The next thing I am going to say is: Company dismissed!"

With that, military etiquette fell away, and soldiers became daughters and husbands, wives and uncles, hugging and kissing and grasping flower bouquets handed to them by family and friends.

As they wandered the gymnasium, strangers patted them on the back saying things like: ''Welcome back. Nice job."

For some, it was not an end. There were some in the unit who had reenlisted, even before returning to the United States. Kim Purington was among them.

Purington's mother, Ina Sprague, 54, said she knew it was a decision that would bring her more anxiety. Purington was only two minutes from entering the mess tent when the explosion rocked it in December. Sprague didn't hear from her daughter until a day and a half later.

Yet, she said, she is not surprised by her daughter's choice. Three of her four children have chosen military paths, including Purington's twin brother.

''This is what she wants to do," she said. ''I am blessed to have a daughter who wants to protect us all."