Wichita ? Mary Pickering pledged to wear a bracelet bearing the name of her son who was captured in Iraq until she could see him in person.

The bracelet came off over the weekend as she welcomed home Pfc. Patrick Miller in a reunion at Fort Bliss, Texas. Miller is from the Wichita area.

“I’m glad it’s over,” said Pickering, who is acting as the family spokeswoman until Miller is cleared by Army base officials to make public statements. “I’m glad he’s home. It’s been a long four weeks.”

After three terrifying weeks of captivity, Miller and six other former POWs returned Saturday to the United States. As the C-17 transport plane rolled along the tarmac at Fort Bliss, Miller and another former POW poked their heads through a hatch on top of the aircraft, holding an American flag and waving to the crowd.

Miller then was greeted with hugs and kisses. His 4-year-old son, Tyler, raced into his arms and gave him a special bracelet that said “dad.” Miller and his wife, Jessa, hugged and kissed.

Jessa, Tyler and the couple’s 8-month-old daughter are living in Park City, near Wichita. Miller graduated from high school in neighboring Valley Center.

Pickering embraced the 23-year-old and then offered a good-natured parental warning.

“I told him, ‘Don’t you ever do this to me again,'” said Pickering, smiling but serious.

Miller has been under medical and psychological evaluation by Army doctors since returning to Fort Bliss. Base officials have asked him not to speak with anyone about his experience until he clears their exams.

The Miller family’s pastor, Ron Pracht of Olivet Southern Baptist Church in Wichita, said Monday the family planned to spend the week at Fort Bliss and then fly out at the end of the week to Washington, D.C., for dinner with President Bush on Saturday. He said Patrick and Jessa Miller were expected at his May 4 church service.

Former prisoners of war Spc. Joseph Hudson, left, Almagordo, N.M., and Pfc. Patrick Miller, Park City, carry a flag and wave from a hatch of the C-17 transport plane. The POWs returned Saturday to Fort Bliss, Texas. What

The Park City community also has a celebration planned on May 10.

Pickering, who lives in Farmington, N.M., said her son had put his priorities in order and his wife and children were at the top of the list.

“Just to listen to him, he’s grown up a lot,” Pickering told The Wichita Eagle for a story in its Monday edition. “He’s not the little boy that left here.”

And the family laughed about how Miller gave his mother another scare when she learned from others and a newspaper photo that he rode atop the giant C-17 transport plane, holding an American flag.

“What are you doing on top of that plane?” she asked him.

Miller’s 8-month-old daughter did not recognize her father at first. But by Sunday, she returned to being “daddy’s pride and joy,” smiling at him and calling for him.

Miller is able to spend most of his time this week with his family. He will be given about a month of leave time, during which he has been asked to decide whether to remain in the military.

“I can’t speak for him, but I kind of think it’s something he’s probably going to stay in because it’s something he’s wanted to do for a long time,” Pickering said.