About 75 Kansas Army National Guardsmen gathered for lunch Thursday at the Lawrence armory, 200 Iowa, marking the return of E and B companies from nearly seven months of duty in Europe.

“It’s good to be back,” said 1st Sgt. Ernest Gwin, a retired Lawrence police officer and 23-year Guard member.

Kansas Army National Guardsman Brian Keating of Overland Park holds his 3-week-old daughter, Gabrielle, during a lunch at the Lawrence armory, 200 Iowa. The soldiers returned Thursday from Europe, where they were serving as part of the war on terrorism.

Though the soldiers’ families were invited, only a handful were able to attend because of work and travel conflicts, Gwin said.

Jennifer Harvey, 28, was one of the few. She was there with 2-year-old daughter McKenna and 3-week-old son Dalton, who was born while her husband, Staff Sgt. Chris Harvey, 28, was overseas.

“We found out I was pregnant two days after he was called up for active duty,” Jennifer Harvey said. “So it’s been bittersweet to say the least.”

Though blessed with support from her parents and in-laws, Jennifer Harvey said she couldn’t help worrying about her husband from the family’s home in Shawnee.

“You always worry when your husband’s thousands of miles away,” she said. “But it’s something you come to accept. He was over there protecting our country. That’s what he signed up to do.”

Dalton Harvey was one of 13 babies born to the 400 members of the Kansas-based 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry and the 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery units during their deployment. The units returned Sunday to Salina.

While in Europe, most of the guardsmen performed guard duty at U.S. military bases, making active-duty soldiers available for Operation Enduring Freedom.

“It was quite an experience. I learned a little German well, enough to get a cab,” said Spc. Charles Smith, laughing.

Smith, 32, said the Germans he talked with were “disgusted” by the Sept. 11 attack on the United States and fully supported Operation Enduring Freedom.

Asked what he missed most, Smith, who lives in Lansing and is a corrections officer at Lansing Correctional Facility, didn’t hesitate: “My wife and my kids, definitely.”

Most of the guardsmen will return to their civilian jobs Monday.