A surprise welcome home for Marine

She spent six months in Baghdad wearing combat boots and a uniform.

She came home clad in sandals and a fuchsia T-shirt, the letters "USMC" printed across the chest.

All eyes were on Staff Sgt. Kristen Erario Saturday as she walked through two flag lines formed by veterans, who surprised Erario upon her arrival at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip.

Dozens of veterans joined Erario's relatives in welcoming home the Marine, who had been stationed near Sadr City since October as part of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq.

Erario, 32, handled logistics for the command, which works with the Iraqi Interior and Defense ministries to train and equip the country's military and police forces.

Carrying her niece, Samantha Nunziata, 2, Erario beamed at the reception and offered effusive thanks.

The time in Iraq taught her patience, she said. "With Iraqis and their culture, everything's not the American way," she said. "There are other ways."

She learned to greet others by placing her right hand over her heart and saying "as-salaam alaikum," or peace be with you.

Though she will miss some Iraqi foods, like pastries, Erario said she's ready for some of her mom's cooking. Yesterday's menu: chicken Parmesan and spaghetti.

"I didn't say a word to her," her mother, Janet Erario, 51, of Holbrook, said. "We just hugged and cried."

"That's something she'll remember," Islip Town Councilman Gene Parrington said.

A Vietnam veteran who served in the Marines, Parrington helped launch a program with the airport to host homecomings for local servicemen and women.

"When we came back, it was a different type of war. You weren't really welcomed home," he said. "It doesn't matter what the war [is] . . . the veteran should be welcomed like a hero and treated as such."

After relaxing with family in Holbrook, Erario will head upstate to Monroe, where she works as a state trooper.

Outside the terminal Saturday, a convoy of Patriot Guard Riders, a veterans group, came up the street on motorcycles.

Erario's sister, Danielle Aiello, 34, of Holtsville, had helped arrange a special ride home.

Erario slipped on a helmet, tapped it against Aiello's, and mounted the back of a bike. Moments later, the roar of the engines revving announced the departure of the latest Long Island vet.