Hundreds cheer Ronkonkoma soldier's return from Iraq

Returning to Long Island Sunday after a 15-month tour in Iraq, Army Spc. Ryan Dickinson knew a couple of friends might show up to greet him at the airport.

Instead, a couple of hundred friends, family and complete strangers, many waving American flags and cheering Dickinson as if he were a celebrity, filled the lobby of MacArthur Airport to welcome home the 21-year-old soldier from Ronkonkoma.

"This is a complete shock," said Dickinson, beaming in his camouflage Army fatigues, one arm around the waist of his wife, Heather.

The rock-star welcome included a white limousine for Dickinson, his wife and their children, Luke, 2, and Nevaeh, 1, and a boisterous escort from the Patriot Guard Riders - a motorcyclist organization that supports veterans' causes. The Town of Islip approved a citation in honor of his safe return, politicians attended and he shook hands and stood for photographs for nearly an hour during the festive airport rally.

"This is how every service member should be welcomed home," said Gene Parrington, an Islip Town councilman and a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam who, along with Dickinson's mother, Donna, organized the rally.

"I am so proud of him," said Donna Dickinson, president of the American Legion Auxiliary Post 651 in Sayville.

His uncle, Vincent Liebenow, of Manhattan, was the first to grab Dickinson by his crewcut head to hug and kiss him.

"It's unbelievable. I prayed every single day for him," Liebenow said through tears. "We're just glad he came home in one piece."

Dickinson, of the 572nd Mobile Augmentation Company, had a dangerous mission, clearing the roads of explosive devices near Mosul in northern Iraq. He carried a picture in his pocket Sunday of a fellow soldier who was killed, his mother said, though he did not want to talk about it.

"You know, it's war," Dickinson said. "I saw a little bit of everything."

Going to Iraq fulfilled a dream for Dickinson, who idolized his grandfather, Francis Liebenow, a veteran of the Army 82nd Airborne in Korea. "When they told me I was going to Iraq, I said: 'Great.' " Dickinson said, adding: "I will have to go back."

For the next two weeks, before he and his wife fly back to his base at Fort Hood, Texas, the peaceful suburbs of Long Island will do. He said he'll have a few drinks with friends and will spend time with his daughter, who was born while he was gone.

Before leaving the airport, Dickinson stopped to address the crowd, noting all the care packages and letters he'd received in the last year. "I just want to say thank you for coming out and showing support," he said.

Outside, he pulled on his black Army beret and went home.