HAPPY HOMECOMING IRAQ VETERAN BACK IN A.V. FAMILY'S ARMS.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - U.S. Army medic John Fleming spent the last 14 months patching up wounded soldiers in Iraq, but on Wednesday he was back at his Palmdale home with a very relieved family.

The 21-year-old Littlerock High School graduate said it's nice to be back home after living through mortar attacks, intense summer heat and torrential winter rains.

``It feels great to be home,'' Fleming said. ``I got my first good night's sleep in a long time.''

Fleming's mother, Tracy Fleming, echoed her son's relief: Her television had been tuned to war coverage 24 hours a day for the past 14 months.

``I'd wake up in the middle of the night, and it (the television) would be on, and I'd start watching it again,'' Tracy said. ``I'd have to take breaks sometimes because it was overwhelming. Now I don't even turn it on. It's been an emotional roller coaster. I still can't believe he's home.''

Fleming, who was in Army basic training when the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, served as a medic with the 26th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.

He went to Iraq in May 2003, after American and allied troops had occupied the country.

In Iraq, Fleming assisted his unit in security patrols but more often than not was treating wounded American soldiers, or treating and training members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, Iraqi soldiers who worked with the American military after the occupation.

Along with that, Fleming also assisted in getting electric and water service to civilians and helped secure meetings with Iraqi community leaders and offered advice to them.

Fleming was in the middle of a mortar attack that wounded 22 soldiers in his camp. He said he remembers clearly not knowing at first if he had been wounded when a mortar shell blew debris into his face. Another shell hit the roof of a building 20 or 30 yards from him.

``That was pretty hectic,'' Fleming said. ``It was just flying debris that hit my face, but it didn't cut me or anything. But I wasn't sure at first.''

The first shells exploded a few feet from where several soldiers were filling sandbags and Fleming was running to get his medic bag when more shells hit near him.

``We didn't have very many casualties from our division,'' Fleming said.

Fleming was supposed to be back home in April - in time for his 21st birthday - but when he and other soldiers got to Kuwait this spring, their unit was called back for an extra three months in Iraq.

Fleming is scheduled to head to Germany on Aug. 22 and from there will go to an army base in Georgia. He could again be deployed to Iraq for an additional one-year term, but there has been no official news.

``We'll deal with all that when and if the time comes,'' Tracy Fleming said. ``I don't know how much more I could handle. We're all so proud of him, but it's scary.''

As of now, John Fleming and his family are gearing up for a party on Saturday to celebrate his homecoming.

Invited are family from all over the country and friends he hasn't seen since he enlisted more than two years ago.

Fleming said he is especially looking forward to seeing a grade-school friend who will be returning to the Antelope Valley on Friday after an extended deployment first to Afghanistan, then to Iraq.

``All I can think about now is how nice it is that he's back home,'' Tracy Fleming said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) U.S. Army medic John Fleming gets a kiss from his mother, Tracy, with his father, Carl, at his side after his return home.

(2) Army medic John Fleming removes the Blue Star flag, representing a soldier away from home, as his mom, Tracy, looks on.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer