Lansing - As Maj. Brian Raymond called the crowd to attention Thursday morning, the hum of happy and excited chatter that filled the air abruptly ceased.
"They're on the ground," Raymond told his rapt audience. "We anticipate them in anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour."
An even stronger wave of excited conversation followed the announcement as the friends and families of 19 Lansing Marines anticipated the moment they would get to see their loved ones for the first time in more than seven months.
Signs and banners scattered across the front lawn of Lansing's Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center welcomed the soldiers and congratulated them on a job well done.
Among the most excited members of the crowd was Christine Leija, who cradled the week-old child her husband, Lance Cpl. Juan Leija, had not yet laid eyes on.
"I'm nervous because I haven't seen him in a long time and he hasn't seen the baby yet," she said. "I'll probably be in tears."
But tears were nowhere to be seen as the bus transporting the soldiers slowly pulled into the reserve center at about 10:40 a.m. and the Marines of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment emerged into the sunlight.
Beaming, Leija beat a direct path to his wife and new son.
"It feels great," he said as he held his son, Alejandro, who was clothed in a T-shirt bearing his father's picture. "I'm so excited to see him."
Leija added that the news of his wife's pregnancy came as a surprise.
"I got the call that said I was activated and five minutes later I got the call saying she was pregnant," he said. "It was a double whammy."
Nearby, Lance Cpl. Tony Rutkiewicz and his wife, Lora, embraced for almost five minutes before the soldier got a chance to greet family members who waited with signs and a large banner to meet him.
Rutkiewicz, an Owosso resident, said Michigan was a welcome change from Iraq and Kuwait, where the troops performed a number of duties ranging from convoy protection to base security.
"It was great to see water and trees because I'm so used to seeing tan all the time," he said, still holding his wife's hand.
After a short debriefing, the Marines were turned loose for their own activities. The Marine Corps grants returning troops "96 hours of freedom" to allow them to see family and friends.
Rutkiewicz said he is eager to get back to normal life.
"There's so many things I want to do," he said. "I'll probably pick up a six-pack of Labatt and go back to the house and relax."
The troops are to report back to the reserve center at noon on Tuesday.
About 120 Lansing Marines remain in Kuwait and are expected to return to the states as early as next week.
MSU psychology Professor Gary Stollak said, depending on each soldier's individual experience, they may have some problems re-adjusting to their normal lives.
"Each case is absolutely unique," he said. "Some of them are glad to come home and won't suffer anything. Some of the people coming back will have nightmares.
"We just don't know yet."
But for Rutkiewicz, the memories of the past seven months seem almost forgotten.
"It's crazy," he said. "I've been gone for so long, but when I step off the bus, it disappears, like I just left yesterday."
Dirk VanderHart can be reached at vande227@msu.edu.
