Quieter Welcome in O.C. on Day 2 : Reunion: Troops come home with only a fraction of Saturday’s fanfare. ‘Better late than never,’ one says.

EL TORO —  The torrent of cheers and flag-waving began the moment the screams of jet engines could be heard in the distance Sunday. When the pair of KC-130 military transport planes came into view and circled the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, some of the 75 anxious relatives and friends darted from one end of the waiting area to the other, jockeying for position.

Finally, as the wide-bellied jets landed in perfect tandem, little children shouted, “Daddy’s here!” Wives and parents, brothers and sisters screamed the names of their returning war hero. Others made a mad dash for the aircraft doors, which opened to 60 exuberant Marines who set foot on home base after seven grueling months on duty in the Persian Gulf.

“It’s been really rough the last few months, but today it’s all over,” said a tearful Crystal Contreras, who threw herself into her husband’s arms when she spied him in the crowd of camouflage-clad soldiers. Ronald Contreras had called their El Toro home every two weeks since he left for Saudi Arabia on Aug. 12. On Sunday, the 31-year-old father was once again able to twirl his 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter in the air.

“There were times when I wasn’t sure if this day would come, but now that it has, we are all grateful,” she said.

It was a scene replayed throughout Southern California on Day 2 of Operation Homecoming, as a continuous stream of planes and buses arrived Sunday at military installations from Edwards Air Force Base to Camp Pendleton, including the first contingent of Navy commandos treated to an uncharacteristic homecoming reception at the normally secretive North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado.

The vigil at March Air Force Base began beneath moonlit skies with only a fraction of the historic fanfare that swept returning Marines to their homes the day before. In one instance, the welcoming band was scrapped because it was too dark to read music.

But Kim Waltrous and three buddies would not budge from their post on a dirt shoulder along Cactus Avenue early Sunday morning. The four Vietnam veterans had come to the gate of the base outside Riverside with a clear purpose in mind.

“We wanted to let these Marines know they’re welcome home just as much as those who arrived yesterday,” said Waltrous, standing beside his red Chevrolet truck adorned with an assortment of American and military flags. “We also wanted to give them the homecoming we never got.”

Most well-wishers and returning servicemen agreed that quality --not quantity --was the buzzword of the day. With fewer cameras, reporters, politicians and onlookers, it was almost easier to savor the moment.

“Better late than never,” said Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Jones, after a 23-hour flight in a noisy, windowless military transport jet ended at March AFB Sunday afternoon. “Some of the troops got to come here on a 747 and have stewardesses walking up and down the aisle. . . . All I cared about was that it had seats and they were going home.”

At North Island, emotions ran high and the wind blew hard as family members of SEALs, who deployed last Aug. 8, waited for planes that were several hours late. At 2 p.m., a Hawaiian Air commercial plane landed with 210 members of Naval Beach Group 1, followed by a green, bulky military C-141 plane, carrying 115 more SEALs.

On board, Lt. Warren Inouye marveled at the prospect of seeing his newborn baby.

Petty Officer Kerry Fischer, 30, envisioned hugging his four children and wife Julie.

“The hardest thing was the isolation,” Petty Officer David Albonetti said of his seven-month stint in the Gulf. “You couldn’t get away and there was no release. There were no other places to go. No women. Nothing.”

In an unprecedented welcoming ceremony for the Navy’s most secretive warriors, about 300 relatives pressed up against one another, straining for a glimpse of the arriving planes. Usually, the commandos arrive home from clandestine missions in the dead of night. They arrive by bus, and there is no welcome.

“We sacrifice a lot and it’s overlooked. This,” said Albonetti, 29, scanning the crowd, “this, is a big hoo-yah thing.”

There was also a lot of waiting at Camp Pendleton, where 300 friends and relatives gathered on a drill field. They broke into cheers when returning Marines from Charlie Company finally rounded a barracks, marching in formation, and then stood at attention.

Both the Leathernecks and the red-and-yellow company standard that blew crisply in the chilly wind were still coated with the grime and sand of living on the front line. The company was the second of four that trickled back to the San Diego County base Sunday.

Sunday’s returning El Toro Marines formed the second wave of soldiers from Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352--which ferried troops and supplies, and refueled jets in midair during the long Persian Gulf crisis. (The first group of 38 Marines arrived Saturday to similarly cheering crowds.)

The El Toro planes were about an hour late on their three-day odyssey from the Persian Gulf. It gave relatives who were all gussied up for the occasion a chance to exchange stories and munch on cookies and pastries set out by the local Red Cross. One man had placed a big “Welcome Home” sign for his brother atop two cases of beer stacked in the bed of his truck.

“All our friends and family are just waiting at our house for my call to say start the party,” said Mary Hardwick, as she waited for her husband’s arrival. “I told them not to begin anything until I was sure he walked off that plane.”

Most of the soldiers had family members and friends waiting to greet them. Some, such as 26-year-old Lance Cpl. Barett Carter, won’t have a real homecoming until he gets to his hometown.

“I am from Chicago and I am single, so there really isn’t anybody out here to come out,” said Carter, who nonetheless was swamped by unfamiliar faces wanting to shake his hand and wish him well. “My parents couldn’t get here but they worried their heads off calling me over there twice a week. But the bottom line is I won’t really be home until I get there. “

At March Air Force Base, a flight scheduled to arrive at 1:30 a.m. was delayed about two hours, making a late night even later for about 100 well-wishers, but they waited patiently in the dark anyway. The small crowd broke into cheers when returning Marines boarded buses and finally rolled out the front gate.

“The looks on their faces was well worth the waiting and the cold,” said Vietnam vet Waltrous, 41, of Corona.

It had been very different 20 years ago, Waltrous and others said.

Bob Scott, 44, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, recalled how quickly he shed his uniform when his flight home touched down at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Wash.

“You didn’t want people to know you were in the military back then,” Scott explained.

“But you still got spotted because of your haircut,” Waltrous interjected.

“In a way,” Scott said, meeting the eyes of his buddies, “supporting the troops now takes a load off us, too.”

Times staff writers Dean Murphy in Los Angeles, Nora Zamichow in San Diego and James Gomez at Camp Pendleton contributed to this report.