The reunion couldn't take place soon enough for the 1,000 wives, mothers, brothers and sisters shoulder to shoulder in the stands at Nashua South High School.

"Now I can breathe," Paula Kvetkosky of Londonderry said, relieved that her son, Lance Cpl. Tom Kvetkosky, was home. The corporal's father, Rich, said he could now retire a banner that had been hanging in his son's bedroom.

Starting at 9:15 p.m., one by one, Marine reservists from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment in Londonderry strode into the gym in their light camouflage uniforms, placing their green packs on the floor. With each arrival the tension for the awaited reunion grew. Marines gazed into the crowd for familiar faces and waved to the clapping and elated crowd.

As the floor filled with Marines, they grew more animated, responding to the crowd's yells, claps and hollers. One Marine hopped on another Marine's back and waved to the crowd.

After speeches and award ceremonies, the Marines, who spent seven months in Fallujah as part of one year on active duty, were dismissed. Many of them hugged each other as their loved ones poured from the stands.

Six-foot-five Tom Kvetkosky of Londonderry lifted his diminutive wife, Jaimie, overhead near center court. She clung to his neck and they spun around surrounded by similar family reunions. The couple had married just before the Marine left for Iraq.

Kvetkosky's brother Joe, who was deployed the last time the Londonderry Marine unit was activated in 2003, tussled brother Tom's hair.

Their mother, Paula, and father, Rich, took turns hugging their boy. Tom Kvetkosky said he was delighted to be home. His wife cried.

Nearby, Leo and Pat Driscoll of Andover, Mass., hugged their son, Lance Cpl. Brian Driscoll. Pat Driscoll said her stomach had been in knots all day.

"I'm very thankful that he's home safe and sound, that's for sure," she said.

Her red-haired son grinned ear to ear. He just wants to relax with loved ones for a couple of days and enjoy some peace and quiet, and play some golf.

Mother Marie Goulet of Methuen, Mass., said she was so excited to see her son, Cpl. Robert Goulet, return home she had a hard time working at the Dunkin' Donuts, where she's a manager.

"I'm so excited. Oh, my God, I'm so proud of him," she said.

Three of the Bravo Company Marines - two from Methuen - received Purple Hearts at the ceremony. They were Cpl. William Moran, 25, and Cpl. Craig Sullivan, 24. Cpl. Donald Weeks also received the Purple Heart, which is presented to members of the armed forces who are wounded or killed in action against an enemy.

The entire company, part of a more than 700-member battalion of Marines and Navy corpsmen, faced adversity in their daily operations.

"They put their necks on the line every day," Major Brian Hoffman said.

Moran, Sullivan and other injured Marines from the company who had returned home earlier greeted their comrades. Some of the injured held crutches or were in wheelchairs.

Sgt. Patrick Igo, 29, of Boothwyn, Pa., has undergone eight operations since an improvised explosive device blew up the vehicle in which he was traveling in Fallujah. He said he received third-degree burns, and shrapnel tore open his left leg, his neck and jaw.

Igo said he couldn't wait to see his buddies. "It's like Christmas. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here," he said.

Marine Lance Cpl. Joe Saccardo of Everett, Mass., and Cpl. Stephen Zussman of California, dragged Igo from the burning vehicle and down the street to a courtyard, where they bandaged the wounded Marine and had him flown to safety.

Saccardo, surrounded by family and friends at the gym, said it was such a relief to be around people he could trust.

Bravo Company's successes included capturing infamous Iraqis. They trained Iraqi soldiers, which, according to several accounts, could be trying. The Marines had a name for an action the Iraqi soldiers undertook when under fire or spooked. The Marines called it a "death blossom." The Iraqi soldiers would form a circle and fire automatic weapons into the air and around them indiscriminately.

September was a difficult month for the Marines, Saccardo said, as nine members of his platoon were wounded.

In August, two Bravo Company Marines who had come from a different unit to augment Bravo, were killed. Capt. John McKenna IV, a New York state trooper from Brooklyn, and Lance Cpl. Michael Glover, of Far Rockaway, were killed Aug. 16 on combat operations. Bravo Company is primarily made up of reservists from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

When not patrolling, operating checkpoints and capturing enemies, they are police officers, salesmen and college students.

Now they can return to their regular lives.