Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Angel Melara holds family friend Yesenia Delgado, 4, during his homecoming party Saturday. He is home from Iraq for two weeks. Shannon Litz Appeal News Service
One cousin left Southern California at 1:30 a.m. to arrive in the Gardnerville Ranchos by noon. Other friends were on the road from Visalia at 5:30 a.m.
The occasion? Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Angel Melara was home safe from Iraq and his close-knit family was planning a celebration.
By 12:30 p.m. Saturday, cars lined the block of the Melaras' Long Valley Road home in the Gardnerville Ranchos.
The aroma of grilled chicken filled the air, family and friends set up tables under canopies, overjoyed that Carson Valley's stranglehold on winter had given way - however briefly - to sunshine and temperatures in the mid-40s.
"It feels good to be home," Melara said as he helped set up chairs and answered calls on his cell phone.
The Melaras had a special reason to be thankful for their son's homecoming. The 19-year-old 2003 Douglas High School graduate was wounded in November during the intense battle for the Iraqi city of Fallujah.
He had the option of leaving Iraq after he was injured, but the young infantryman chose to stay.
"It's all healed up," he said of the shrapnel wounds to his lip, forehead, neck and leg.
He is line for a Purple Heart, but said he's not alone.
"There are a lot of Purple Hearts going through," he said.
Melaras' parents and his brother and three sisters were so eager to see him that they made the 1,200-mile round trip to Camp Pendleton to greet Miguel when he and his unit arrived back in the United States last week.
He flew back to Gardnerville on Saturday and will be home for two weeks.
Melara is stationed at Camp Pendleton until he is deployed overseas at the end of the summer. There is a possibility he will return to Iraq.
He is assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
"At first, it was scary," he said. "We'd never been there before, and we barely had electricity, but this is what we were trained for and you learn to deal with it."
One of the first things Melara did when he returned to Camp Pendleton last week was to visit the families of fellow Marines who were killed in combat. He has lost three of his closest friends.
"It's real sad that they died, but I know they are in a better place," he said.
Visiting his friends' parents was difficult, but Melara said they were happy to see him and believed their sons died for a just cause.
Despite his injury and the loss of his friends, Melara said he is proud to be a Marine. He enlisted when he was 17 1/2 with his parents' permission.
"After high school, I wanted to do something with my life and this seemed like a challenge," he said. "It has turned out great."
In the eight months since he's been away, Melara said he's noticed a change in the landscape. And his family has noticed differences in him.
"I think he's taller," said his 10-year-old brother Victor who brought home a poster for Miguel that was signed by his fourth-grade teachers and classmates at Scarselli Elementary School.
Maria Melara expected her son to be thinner and was relieved at his healthy appearance.
"I'm just happy to have him home," she said.
Junior Melara has seen a maturity and quietness in Miguel.
"He's a grown-up man," said his father.
For the next two weeks, Miguel said he just wants to "hang around the house," see his friends, and be a big brother to Jessica, Jennifer, Joanna and Victor.
"I just want to see everybody."
Once he was back in the United States, Melara held off on the fast food in favor of home-cooked meals with his family in Southern California and at his parents' home in Gardnerville.
"When I picked him up, he just said, 'Dad, let's go home,'" Junior Melara said.
n Contact reporter Sheila Gardner at sgardner@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 214.
