PERRY – From boys who set off a fire alarm as a prank to National Guardsmen guarding convoys in Iraq, Teddy Cummings and Ben Maloney have learned some lessons.

They were among eight service members from Washington County honored Saturday night with a heroes’ welcome at the Perry Elementary School.

Five of the eight went to school together at Perry.

In the past year, Spcs. Theodore Cummings and Benjamin Maloney of the Maine Army National Guard’s 172nd Mountain Infantry have served in Iraq with school friends Spcs. Adam Hall of Whiting and Michael Barnard of Perry and Pfc. Jordan Bishop of Perry.

They were among soldiers who returned home in recent weeks. So more than 150 people attended a dinner in their honor Saturday at the elementary school. The event was sponsored by the Calais Family Support Group.

Also honored were Spcs. Jesse Brown of Lubec and Mitch Russell of Calais, also part of the 172nd, and Staff Sgt. David Boone of Eastport, who recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan.

“I’ve known Ben ever since I can remember,” Cummings said Saturday. “We grew up together ever since we were babies. Everybody else I kind of met in school and hung out with, and they became some of my best friends.”

At one point during their school days, Cummings and Maloney wound up suspended for the fire alarm prank.

Not too many years later, Maloney, Hall and Barnard were deployed to Tallil, Iraq. And Bishop and Cummings were in Baghdad, places where pranks seem absurd.

They left last March, and four of the five friends celebrated birthdays thousands of miles from home.

Only Barnard was home on leave when he turned 21 years old.

The night of his 21st birthday, Cummings was on a mission. “It was just like another night,” he said.

Bishop also was on a mission when he turned 20 years old. Bishop said he came from a long line of military men. “It’s just what we Bishops do, I guess,” he said.

Maloney did celebrate, but not a lot. “I got one fake beer and smoked a cigar. That’s the best I could do,” he said.

Hall, who turned 22, drank a “near-beer,” he said with a huge smile.

Their mission was to provide convoy security. “When I first go out its scary, but after a while you just get used to it,” Barnard said. “You still got to keep looking out, but you kind of lose the fear.”

They were in what Maloney described as “gun trucks.”

“If the convoy came under fire, we would fire back,” Cummings said. Barnard was one of the drivers, even though he didn’t have a driver’s license. “They just threw me in the driver’s seat,” he said with a huge smile.

Hall said when they weren’t on patrol there wasn’t much else to do. “Sit around on our cans and do absolutely nothing,” he said.

Two in their unit died. Staff Sgts. David Michael Veverka and James Kelly Jr. were killed May 6, 2006. Spc. Christopher Fraser was seriously injured.

Even though the men didn’t know well the men who were killed, it was a difficult time for all of them. “Morale was down for quite a few weeks after that,” Hall said.

The Iraqi reaction to their being there? “They loved us over there for what we did,” Maloney said. “We didn’t really interact with them much at first [because] we were traveling during the daytime. Then we switched to at night and they weren’t really out; they had curfews. We had mixed reaction. They’d throw rocks at you. Some would wave to you.”

The men had mixed reactions to going back to Iraq.

Cummings said he would. “I don’t know why, but I honestly would go back again,” he said.

“I’m sort of torn,” Hall said. “Yes, the camaraderie over there is unbelievable. I met friends for life, but missing home was the hard part, and knowing you’re in the face of danger every day not knowing what could happen, that’s another part, too, I really didn’t like,” he said.

Barnard has only two years left in the Guard. “If I don’t want to get out, then I’ll definitely go back over,” he said.

Bishop doesn’t want to go back. “I definitely would go to Afghanistan,” Bishop said. “Iraq? Probably, not. I’m not seeing any progress. I don’t need to be there anymore. I did my year. I think we need to get out of there. Afghanistan, absolutely, though. In a heartbeat.”

Maloney said he would return, but would like to stay home for a few years.

There were words of praise from Sgt. 1st Class Walter Cummings of the Maine Army National Guard, VFW State Commander Mike Farrell, R. Gary Craig, commander of the American Legion, Maj. Lance Gilman of the Maine Army National Guard and state Sen. Kevin Raye. Farrell then presented certificates of appreciation to each of the men from the Passamaquoddy Memorial VFW Post 11299.

Addressing the peace vigils held around the country, the men agreed that people had a right to protest. But Bishop added, “If they kept it to themselves, I’d more appreciate it.”