HOULTON – It was, as singer Tony Carey sang two decades ago, “a fine, fine day for a reunion” in Houlton on Sunday.

Hundreds of people lined the streets and converged on the Houlton Armory to welcome home the Aroostook County contingent of the 152nd Field Artillery Unit, a National Guard troop that was deployed to Iraq 13 months ago.

Of the 112 soldiers from the unit that returned to the state on Sunday, more than 50 were from Houlton, Presque Isle and Caribou. The group flew into Bangor from Fort Dix, N.J., earlier in the day. After receiving a hearty greeting at the Bangor Civic Center, the County soldiers boarded a bus for another welcome-home ceremony that friends and family had planned at the armory here.

It was a particularly joyous celebration for the 152nd, as all of the soldiers who left came back alive.

Inside the hot, crowded facility, people waited anxiously, waiving tiny American flags and trying to determine how far away from town the bus was. Hodgdon resident Tim Humphrey entertained the crowd with patriotic songs and kept them updated on the soldiers’ location.

“The bus has just passed the Crystal [town] line,” he shouted. A few moments later, Humphrey announced that the group was in Island Falls. Soon afterward, they were nearing the Houlton exit.

In a hangar near the armory’s back exit, family members gathered to wait where they thought the bus would be letting the soldiers out. Near the door that led to the parking lot, a group of children lay on the cement floor, trying to peak under the door to see the bus.

Just a few feet away, Deborah Rafford stood in front of a sea of well-wishers, three buttons bearing her children’s pictures pinned to her sweat shirt. She is well-schooled in military life – her husband, Clark, and all three of her children are in the military. It was her son, Donny, whom she was waiting to throw her arms around on Sunday evening.

As more and more people nudged their way closer to the door, a last-minute glitch changed their plans. Because of all of the cars that had jammed into the armory parking lot for the ceremony, the bus could not get into the back lot. The soldiers had to come in the front door.

“I’m going out this way!” said Courtney Toby, holding a sign affixed with yellow balloons to greet her husband, Danny. With the help of other greeters, she wrenched up the heavy door leading to the parking lot and ran outside to find her husband.

Some of the people who turned out to greet the troops said that they didn’t even know any of the soldiers, but they wanted to offer a handshake or a hug, to thank them and to say “welcome home.”

As the crowd moved inside, the soldiers posed for pictures as they had more than a year ago, when a similar gathering at the armory wished them well as they left for Iraq. On Sunday, returning soldier Cheyenne Polchies cradled his baby daughter, Monique, in his arms. He had missed much of her life during his time in Iraq.

The town had prepared all week for the event. By Saturday, yellow ribbons were plastered everywhere in town- on telephone poles, bridges and traffic signs. The windows of homes and businesses sported signs celebrating the unit’s return. Police and fire officials escorted the bus down the parade route as well-wishers waved, cheered, and honked car horns in salute.

Though Town Councilor Phil Bernaiche had no ties to the 152nd, he showed up to greet the soldiers.

“I know what this is like,” he said Sunday. “I had two boys who served in Vietnam. It is great to see all of these people here, we should all be out here. If they don’t have our support, what do they have?”