“All I really want to do is go to my backyard, lay under a tree and look up at the green leaves,” he said.

One hundred and thirty-five members of the Rhode Island National Guard’s 169th Military Police Company returned yesterday morning from Al-Anbar province in Iraq, where they spent the past 10 months training Iraqi police officers.

They arrived on two C-130J Hercules transport planes from Fort Dix, N.J., the last stop on a trip that took them from Iraq to Kuwait to Germany and then to the United States.

Anita DelBonis was at Quonset with her husband Larry, two daughters, a son and other relatives to welcome back another son, Dave, a Warwick police officer. They could barely contain their excitement. In all, Dave DelBonis and the other soldiers in the 169th had been gone 11 months.

“We want him back home again,” his mother said.

The planes seemed to arrive out of nowhere at 9:45 a.m., flying low over the hangar where the crowd waited. A cheer went up and continued as the two aircraft banked and then landed. As they taxied to a stop, two soldiers stood outside hatches at the top of each plane, one holding the unit’s flag, the other an American flag.

The 169th, based in Warren, is the oldest National Guard unit in Rhode Island, with a history going back to the Revolutionary War. Its members come from Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

They walked out of the planes, still carrying their packs, and were met by Governor Carcieri, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and other dignitaries.

Robin Iacona, of Johnston, stood on tiptoes at the back of the crowd trying to spot her 23-year-old son Michael, a specialist in the 169th.

“There he is! There he is!” she screamed when she saw him. “He’s the third one in.”

She and other family members rushed over to meet him, giving him hugs and kisses. Michael Iacona just smiled.

“I’m glad to be back,” he said.

“I’m even gladder,” his father, David, said, beaming. “He’s the best thing I ever did in this world.”

Michael plans to go back to school at the Community College of Rhode Island and then apply for a job as a police officer. But he wasn’t worrying about his job prospects yesterday. He was content to spend time with his family and sip a Del’s lemonade.

“My first in a long time,” he said.

Fellow unit member Andrew Niedfeldt stood off to the side with his fiancée, Edwina Neto. The Warwick couple didn’t want to let go of each other.

“It was a long deployment,” said Niedfeldt.

Lt. Robert Jacavone’s 7-year-old niece wouldn’t let go of him either. Isabella Jacavone wrapped her arms around her uncle’s waist and then climbed on his back. Even as they walked out of the hangar, she wouldn’t leave his side.

Her 8-year-old brother, Dino, was close by too. He had gotten up at 6 a.m. so he’d have enough time to make a poster for Jacavone, a platoon commander.

“Welcome home, Uncle Robert,” it read. “We love you.”

Jacavone, a Coventry police officer, said the men and women in the 169th worked hard during their deployment to train Iraqi police departments. Unit members went out on patrols with Iraqi officers as part of the training and helped set up police stations throughout Al-Anbar province.

“We feel like we did a good job out there,” said Jacavone, of Johnston.

Sergeant Beaver also believes the unit’s work made a difference. Al-Anbar province was one of the most dangerous regions in the country, seeing some of the heaviest fighting during the war. Now, he said, it’s safer, due in part to more professional police forces.

“We trained them to stand on their own,” said Beaver, a Warwick native who works for General Dynamics.

His wife of 13 years, Cecile, and daughters Kassandra and Christina were at the base yesterday to greet him. After being apart for so long, they were eager to go home to Warwick.

“This is probably the best day of my life,” 15-year-old Kassandra said as they got ready to leave.The war in Iraq

•Three U.S. Marines and two interpreters were among scores of people killed yesterday in two bombings in predominantly Sunni provinces in Iraq, the U.S. military said.

Yesterday’s deaths bring the number of Americans killed in Iraq this week to 13. UNine of those killed were attacked while attending meetings with local Iraqi administrators. The attacks appear to be part of a campaign by both Sunni and Shiite extremists to undermine U.S. efforts to shore up local administrations and secure the security gains achieved since early last year.

The Marines killed yesterday where meeting with local leaders in Anbar province, in western Iraq.

Meanwhile, in Mosul, in northern Iraq, a car bomb killed at least 18 people during an attack that may have targeted the governor of Nineveh province. The attack, which also injured at least 71 people, came two days after a bombing in the city that wounded about 90 people. (The Washington Post)

lakuffner@projo.com