Capt. John Green holds his niece Kole Karwoski, while his sister Kari left, and friend Mag Campell watch.
Nine days ago, U. S. Marine Corps Capt. John Green was in Kuwait, flying missions to Iraq in his Harrier AV8B.
On Sunday, he relaxed on a porch in Marla Bay overlooking Lake Tahoe with his family, friends and neighbors.
"I can't even describe how good it is to be home," he said, looking out at the green trees and grass. "Things actually live here -- other than goats and camels."
He sat with his wife, Meesha.
"I'm the happiest person in the world right now," she said. "It was hard sending him off to war, but I'm so proud of him."
They celebrated his homecoming at the summer home of her father, Carson City attorney Riley Beckett. His wife, Jane, smiled at the Marine.
"We said our prayers every night to bring him home," she said.
"Five hundred times a night," added Meesha, hugging her husband.
"I'm happy he's home, and I'm happy she has her husband back," said Jane Beckett.
The first thing the Greens did when John got home Thursday was attend Meesha's 10-year Carson High School reunion.
"It was really fun to see everyone again," she said.
John Green is originally from Long Beach, Calif. This was his first deployment since they married in September 2001.
"During heavy fighting, there were long times when I couldn't talk to him, and that was really hard," Meesha Green said.
Spouses of Marines have a support network called the Key Volunteers, which helps a lot, she said.
Capt. Green flew an American flag into Iraq then gave it to Jane Beckett's uncle Mervin Hawkins of Sparks. Hawkins, who was also a Marine, placed a pole in his yard to fly the flag, along with a Marine Corps flag and a flag in support of U.S. troops.
Green's squadron, the VMA 214 Blacksheep, was involved in the rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch, he said.
"We were the ones flying overhead who got the aerial footage, and we flew a diversionary tactic -- blowing up a big Baath Party headquarters," he said. "We were very instrumental in her rescue."
Green was in Kuwait for five months. He lived in a tent without air conditioning and said the heat was "ridiculous."
"The thermometers only went up to 120 degrees, and they were pegged by 8 o'clock every morning," he said.
He stayed in touch with his wife with a cell phone he bought in Kuwait.
"The cell service was much better there than here at Lake Tahoe," he said with a laugh.
Capt. Green flies a Harrier, a jet capable of vertical takeoff.
"We can't do that with a full bag of bombs and gas, though," he said.
When his squadron, made famous by Maj. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington in the Pacific Theater of World War II, left Southwest Asia, it was the Marine Corps' last group of fixed-wing aircraft in the area.
The war has moved from big targets to smaller, more guerrilla-style battles, Green said.
He was sorry to leave other Marines in the desert.
"I feel bad having to leave them, but it was our turn to come back."
The Greens were surprised by his quick return.
"When I heard he was coming back already, I was shocked and very happy," said his wife.
"We didn't expect it to go as fast as it did," Green said. "I have great buddies that are in Bagram, Afghanistan, now for -- it'll be a year soon."
The Greens will now be stationed in Yuma, Ariz.
