NORMAL - Hundreds of people filled both sides of the street near Kingsley Junior High School, holding signs, waving flags, screaming and cheering the returning Iraq war veterans. | Photo gallery | Parade video

The uniformed soldiers smiled and waved at the adults and schoolchildren from atop the back seats of convertibles.

The cheers grew as some soldiers pumped their arms in the air to rile up the crowds, and a small group of students near the start of the procession broke into chants of "U-S-A."

A veteran stepped off the curb, saluted and shook the hand of one of the passing soldiers.

The crowd near the school was just a portion of the thousands of people who cheered members of the 33rd Military Police Battalion as they rode in a motorcade for the two-mile trip from the Illinois State University campus in Normal to their armory on South Main Street in Bloomington.

Police squad cars from Normal, Bloomington, ISU, McLean County, Illinois State Police and Ogden led the procession and were followed by 30 to 40 convertibles, each carrying one or two soldiers wearing fatigues. Interspersed were motorcycles carrying American flags.

About 70 soldiers arrived in Normal late Thursday morning, coming from Camp Atterbury, Ind., which is southwest of Indianapolis. They had arrived in Indiana on Saturday.

They were deployed in late June 2006 for training in New Jersey and left there for Iraq in October.

The soldiers left their buses and got into convertibles in a parking lot just east of ISU's Redbird Arena, where they waited until the procession started.

Maj. Michael Beierman, executive officer for the battalion, said the soldiers in the 33rd were responsible for security at Camp Bucca, whether it was internal security or defending against attackers outside the base. Camp Bucca is an insurgent detention camp 300 miles southeast of Baghdad.

He declined to say how often the base was attacked, other than "more than we would have liked."

"We're glad we got through it without any casualties," Beierman said. Some soldiers were injured, but none lost limbs or their eyesight, he said.

Beierman said he wants to spend some time in his back yard in Peotone with his wife, 2-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son.

Battle NCO Chuck Riippi, of Sycamore, said he wanted to order a pizza and sit at home.

"That's what I'm looking forward to the most: sitting on my couch," Riippi said.

Battle Capt. Trevor Albrecht, of Kenosha, Wis., who sat beside Riippi in the back of a Ford Mustang, described his and Riippi's duties as "command and control" at the base, described by the Associated Press as the largest U.S.-run POW camp in Iraq. Albrecht and Riippi were initially in the Freeport-based 333rd Military Police Company, but they went with the 33rd when it was mobilized, the men said.

As for returning home, Riippi said, "This is our second tour and it's just as good as the first time."

Sgt. Kristi Erickson, of Flanagan, said she planned to meet her 3-month-old niece, Reegan Renee, when she reached the armory. Specialist Samantha Brush, of Monmouth, who sat with Erickson as they waited for the motorcade to start, described the pair's jobs in Iraq as being like dispatchers, working on radios and phones, during their deployment.

Erickson said they also spent time working on security for convoy and patrol missions, acting as police outside the base.

"It's like, if you take a blow dryer and put it to your face and then take sand and throw it in the blow dryer, and that's a cool day," Erickson said.

Ray Russell, of Martinsville, Ind., was one of the Patriot Guard Riders who led the convoy from Atterbury to Normal. He said the motorcycle group travels with soldiers whenever they return home through the base.

"It's our way of honoring our heroes for all they've done for us," Russell said.

The motorcycles led the buses of soldiers during the three-hour trip to Bloomington, he said. And they picked up additional riders at the Illinois border and once they reached the Twin Cities.

"It's very humbling and it's just an awesome feeling inside," Russell said of the ride. "Unless you've been there, you can't really describe it."

Dennis Cunningham, of Goodfield, was one of the riders who met the group along the Illinois border. He said he found out about the trip through the Patriot Guard Riders' Web site, and he took the day off from his job at the local Mitsubishi plant.

Russ Magers, of Paris, Ill., another rider who met the group at the Illinois border, said he told his wife and sons that he would be on the road when events like this come up.

"Once you start this, you feel like you have to," Magers said. "It's just something that needs to be done."