Central : Long Trail for Marines Leads Home

For the families on the ground, the 16 camouflaged Marine Corps helicopters flying above were more like Greyhound buses speeding to a joyful reunion than high-tech military aircraft.

More than 450 Marines returned Tuesday to the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station from a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf, Kuwait, Somalia and Kenya. They were eagerly awaited.

In a crowd of hundreds of people, Cindy Wild of Aliso Viejo held up a bright green sign reading, “I love you Doogie” and meant for her husband, Capt. Kevin Wild.

Michel DelValle waited with friends holding a large banner that read “Welcome Home Max” to attract the attention of her husband, Lance Cpl. Max DelValle. The banner showed the Marine Corps seal and motto, Semper Fidelis, Latin for “always faithful.”

As the 16 helicopters flew in formation to the base, people in the crowd began to wave flags and cheer.

Twelve CH-46 Sea Knights and four CH-53E Super Stallions flew in and landed near the crowd. Their whirling blades blew off some hats, and the dust they kicked up made people squint. When the blades finally stopped spinning, they folded back like the wings of a butterfly. The Marines inside sprang forth.

As the men left the helicopters, they formed loose lines in front of their aircraft. “They’ve probably arranged an order in the last couple days, but it looks like they’re not going to make it,” noted Staff Sgt. J.D. Hiskett, who was in the waiting crowd.

“They’re too excited,” said Susan Brittingham of Mission Viejo, who stood waiting for her boyfriend, Cpl. Mike Arnold. “Oh, he looks so cute,” she said when she finally spotted him in the line.

The Marines lined up in five groups and then waited while a commander reviewed them. “They’re taking their sweet time,” said Hiskett to Brittingham. “They’re making you girls wait.”

Finally sirens wailed and the men whooped and ran to their wives and families.

Not all the Marines were met by friends. “I don’t have a specific woman waiting for me,” said Lance Cpl. Andrew Chandler, a 22-year-old from Sacramento. But he said he is looking forward to having the next four days off.

“We’ve been cooped up for a long time,” he said. Chandler said the Marines spent most of their time abroad on the aircraft carrier Tarawa. “We didn’t really do much,” Chandler said. “It was pretty boring.”

Max DelValle eventually found his wife and her sign. “It feels kind of weird to be back,” he said.

“You’d better say you’re happy or you can get back on there,” said Michel DelValle, motioning to the helicopters. The two had been married for nine months when Max DelValle was sent on the six-month tour. The phone bills were enormous, she said. “I should buy stock in Pacific Bell.”

Sgt. Scott Monceaux was reunited with his wife, Katrina, and their daughter McKena, 2. “Do you know my name?” Scott Monceaux asked McKena. He laughed as he listened to his daughter babble and sing to herself. She had not been talking when he left. “Now she’s just a little motor-mouth,” he said.