After the band had played, the politicians had spoken and the 180 returning members of the Maryland National Guard had been recognized for serving their country overseas at yesterday's "Freedom Salute" welcome home ceremony, it was 3-year-old Evelyn Joseph who took to the stage and received some of the day's loudest applause.

Evelyn, in a red dress, white tights and pigtails, walked on stage at Loch Raven High School with her mother, Petronella Henry-Joseph, who received an award for heading up one of the National Guard's family-readiness units. During the soldiers' deployment, Henry-Joseph organized gatherings for the families and trips to places like Chuck E. Cheese.

"Just being in touch with them - helping them out with what they were going through - I tended to forget about my own worries," she said. "It was a blessing."

While the soldiers were given encased American flags, lapel insignias, coins and certificates of appreciation for their service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Kuwait and elsewhere, their families were content yesterday with the simple reward of their loved ones' safe return home. The three units honored brought all of their soldiers home safely.

"When you mobilized I said I wanted you to do two things," Maj. Gen. Bruce F. Tuxill, head of the Maryland National Guard, told the soldiers and their commanders. "One, do your mission well and make Maryland proud. And two, bring every one of your soldiers back home safe and sound. You did both."

Henry-Joseph's husband, Sgt. Roger Joseph, was in Iraq for 18 months. When he left, Evelyn was not yet 2 and barely able to walk. Upon his return, she is a gregarious toddler who races around the family's Abingdon home and loves Dora the Explorer.

Henry-Joseph raised Evelyn, an 11-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son on her own while her husband was away. The absence was toughest on the 11-year-old, and Henry-Joseph had to monitor the TV programs they saw because bad news out of Iraq created such anxiety.

The hardest part for Roger Joseph?

"Not seeing my children grow up," he said. "When I came back, I couldn't recognize them." He e-mailed every day and participated in Evelyn's second birthday via teleconference, but of course it was no substitute.

About 100 of the 180 soldiers welcomed home yesterday served in Kosovo under the aegis of the United Nations and as part of the Army National Guard's 29th Infantry Division. They provided intelligence and logistical support to help maintain a secure environment in that region after years of ethnic violence.

The soldiers said they were impressed with Kosovo's rivers and mountains and thought they might return under better circumstances.

"I think there's a great potential for tourism," said Sgt. 1st Class Chris Rodriguez, 45, who lives in Arlington, Va., though she has served in the Maryland National Guard since 2000.

Staff Sgt. Joe Gray of Essex, an aircraft engine mechanic, spent nearly a year in Kuwait as part of the Aviation Depot Maintenance Roundout Unit, supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Gray left for his deployment, his son Austin was 4 months old.

"I suppose the biggest realization for me," said Gray, 30, "is that it doesn't matter if you're in support or direct combat, but when you're separated that long from loved ones, there's always issues. I missed a lot of milestones in my child's life."

Gov. Martin O'Malley told the soldiers that under his watch the state has increased by $800,000 the budget for reintegration programs and by $3.5 million for mental health and medical assistance.

"Our soldiers, each and every one of them, have given a gift to all of us," O'Malley said. "Now we're going to stand up for them. I don't want you to be too shy or too proud to ask for help."

Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Blackman left behind three children - an 11-year-old son and 7- and 8-year-old daughters - when he went to Kosovo for a year. He called and e-mailed every day but still missed events such as his son Kahri's fifth-grade graduation.

"I got the tape," said Blackman, 40, "but it's not the same as being there."

He plans to attend Kahri's eighth-grade graduation in person.

stephen.kiehl@baltsun.com