Soldier's surprise

Returning to Long Island yesterday 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

fatigues, one arm around the waist of his wife, Heather.

The rock-star welcome included a white limousine for the Dickinsons and

their children, Luke, 2, and Nevaeh, 1, and a boisterous escort from the

Patriot Guard Riders - a motorcyclist group that supports veterans' causes.

The Town of Islip approved a citation in honor of his safe return, and

politicians made the scene. Dickinson shook hands and posed for photographs for

nearly an hour during the festive 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 the dangerous task

of clearing the roads of explosive devices near Mosul in northern Iraq. He

carried a picture in his pocket yesterday 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.