A decorated soldier extended words of thanks Wednesday to Lawrence senior citizens who sent supplies and offered encouragement to him last year while he was in Iraq.

Army Staff Sgt. Bill Flippo received a hero’s welcome when he stopped by Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community, 4851 Harvard Road, and greeted about 40 residents during a cookies-and-punch reception.

“It’s great to have a welcome-home like this,” said Flippo, whose mother, Cindy Flippo, works at the center.

Last year the center’s residents obtained several shoe boxes and filled them with supplies such as tissues, razors, antibiotic ointments and Life Savers, then sent them to Flippo and his 82nd Airborne unit. They also sent a letter and poems of encouragement.

Flippo and his mates found it all helpful, he said.

“Knowing that people back in the States back us up — there’s not a greater feeling,” he said.

Flippo, who lived the first six years of his life in Lawrence before moving to Winfield, was wearing the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals he earned during his year in Iraq.

The Bronze Star was awarded after a March 31, 2003, incident in which Flippo drove his Humvee into the line of gunfire to protect others who were rescuing some wounded soldiers. The Purple Heart came after he suffered minor wounds in August 2003 when a roadside bomb exploded.

Health center residents presented him with one more gift to take back to his unit: a videotape of the residents’ choir singing several patriotic songs. The choir made the tape last year but held off sending it after learning that Flippo’s unit didn’t have a VCR to watch it.

Staff Sgt. Bill Flippo, Lawrence, greets Zona Smith, a resident at Pioneer Ridge Health Center, during a welcome-home ceremony for the decorated veteran. Last year, residents at the center filled several shoe boxes with supplies and sent them to Flippo and his 82nd Airborne unit in Iraq. Flippo met with about 40 residents Wednesday.

Ken Weihe, an 83-year-old World War II veteran, presented the tape to Flippo.

“I know what it’s like to be away from home,” said Weihe, who was a Navy aviation instructor. “I was stateside, but I never was based anywhere close to home.”

Flippo said he had the greatest respect for veterans of World War II and other previous wars.

“My hat is off to those vets,” he said. “What we did was nothing like what they did.”

Opal Folks, 84, also remembered World War II and how her husband was in Europe with the Army for three years. She could identify with Flippo’s wife, Charanna, who also attended the reception.

“I know what it’s like to have someone come home,” Folks said.

Charanna gave birth to the couple’s second son, Nathan, shortly after her husband was wounded. Their other son, Shawn, is 2. Since her husband left Iraq in early February, her nerves have eased, she said.

“I’ve been catching up on my sleep,” Charanna Flippo said.