Topeka ? Fifty-five members of the Kansas Air National Guard’s 190th Air Refueling Wing returned Sunday to Topeka from their deployment overseas as part of the war against Iraq.

Donna Bayes, of Salina, was bursting with pride as she waited for the first of the four returning planes to land. Its co-pilot was her son, 1st Lt. Matt Bayes, who lives in the Kansas City area.

She said he left Kansas enthused about flying his first international mission and that his experience in the war had strengthened his passion for military service.

Bayes said her son’s career as a pilot was special to her because her father was a pilot in World War II.

“I’m just so glad they were only gone as long as they were,” she said.

Despite gray skies and a chilly wind, the atmosphere at Forbes Field was one of elation when the doors of the first plane opened and eight Air National Guard members walked onto the tarmac to reunite with their families.

Shortly after landing, Matt Bayes said he was thrilled to see his family again but also would miss the closeness he developed with the seven other members of his crew.

Maj. Rick Jellison, spokesman for the 190th, said the unit had been based in Mildenhall, England, because Turkey didn’t give the United States permission to establish a base on Turkish soil.

Bayes said his crew usually flew three- to five-hour missions during which they refueled fighter planes going into Iraq.

“Our crew stuck together,” he said, explaining that all of them had to be ready to fly at a moment’s notice and didn’t go anywhere without one another.

For the last five weeks of the mission, he said, they were either flying, eating or sleeping.

Among those waiting for the second plane to land was Sam Rende, whose wife, Maj. Miki Rende, is an administrator with the 190th.

Rende held a cardboard sign that read “Welcome Home. We are proud of you,” while his son Sean, 11, held a bouquet of red and white flowers and daughter Christine, 9, bundled up in a blanket to keep warm.

Jellison said members of the 190th would have a weeklong vacation.