Topeka ? Nearly 1,000 family members and friends today cheered the return of the 1st Battalion, 127th Field Artillery from Iraq.

“I’m glad to have him back,” Steve Grammer of Baldwin said as his 24-year-old son, Specialist Scott Grammer stood beside him. “It’s a good feeling to have everybody back in Kansas,” the father said.

The 150 soldiers had been in Baghdad for more than a year providing security for U.S. government officials. The battalion is headquartered in Ottawa and includes a detachment based in Lawrence.

Soldiers interviewed at the event said they felt conditions were improving in Iraq despite the increase in violence.

“It’s a slow process. Honestly, they’re having more battles with themselves; they are still trying to establish a pecking order. The government is slowly starting to get on its feet,” said 1st Lt. Steven Schneider of Overland Park.

1st Sgt. Joseph T. “Ted” Lawyer of Lawrence took to Iraq a Kansas University flag that he plans to donate to a museum.

A Vietnam War veteran, Lawyer said the reception at Lee Arena at Washburn University — complete with signs and speeches of support and loud cheering — was totally different than when he came home from Vietnam.

“When we came home before, you got off an airplane and that was it. You didn’t have anything like this,” he said.