Three-year-old Madison Ashley needed a special kiss from her daddy when she first saw him Wednesday.

&#8220Daddy, I have a bo-bo – right here,” she said, pointing to a scratch above her eye.

Madison was 2 and could barely speak when her daddy, Sgt. Roger Ashley, left more than a year ago for Iraq to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. When she greeted him Wednesday, she was speaking full sentences, just about every one starting with, &#8220Daddy.”

&#8220I told her, ‘Daddy went to work and it’s far, far away,’” said Madison’s mother, Tina Ashley.

Sgt. Ashley and the 25 other Reserve members of the 412th Engineer Command returned from a 14-month tour in Iraq, where they worked construction projects, said 412th commander Maj. Gen. Robert Williamson. The soldiers helped build bridges and playgrounds for Iraqi youths.

Madison, the youngest of three Ashley children, knew that Daddy would come home to go fishing with her. She and her brothers even made a sign that said, &#8220Hey, Daddy, Let’s go fishing.”

When the bus made its way through the gate of the 412th command center on Porters Chapel Road around noon, family members, clad in red, white and blue and bearing flags, stood at attention. When the soldiers filed off the bus, everyone ran to greet them.

For Maj. Warren Seymour and his wife, Karen Seymour, seeing each other for the first time was &#8220like an emotional honeymoon,” he said. The two actually reunited Tuesday at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg and again in Vicksburg a day later.

The Slidell couple, who will celebrate their second wedding anniversary Oct. 2, are ready to move forward with their lives and enjoy the things in life they used to take for granted.

&#8220You’re not able to share the everyday moments,” Maj. Seymour said. &#8220You learn to appreciate the simple things.”

Karen Seymour, like many of the wives left behind to take care of things at home, said it wasn’t always easy – especially since the troops’ deployment came right in the midst of Hurricane Katrina, which blasted coastal areas of Mississippi and Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005.

&#8220She’s the hero,” Seymour said of his wife. &#8220She did an amazing job – living in a town that’s depressed. Everything she does is complicated. She had to go through all that.”

Tina Ashley said taking care of their three children while her husband was away made her more aware of the changes each child went through. But now that her husband is back safe and sound it’s all about sharing.

&#8220We’re just going to take it easy,” Tina Ashley said. &#8220I’ll mow the grass one more time, but that’s it.”

The troops, activated in July, received training at Camp Shelby before leaving for Iraq Oct. 6. The group consisted of mostly engineers and surveyors who served as an engineering consulting firm for the commander in Iraq.

The group of soldiers, who worked all over Iraq, had no casualties, Williamson said.

The 412th is part of the U.S. Army Reserve and has members from Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Hawaii and New Mexico.

About 30 soldiers from the 412th remain in Iraq, Williamson said, and 72 soldiers have served in the war on terrorism so far.

&#8220You helped make a country better for people who have known only war,” he said to the 26 soldiers after they spent time with their families. &#8220And you’ve helped bring terrorism to an end. It’s a great day for the 412th, and it’s a great day for Vicksburg.”