Sgt. Eddie Gaddison, wife Calandra and children Royal, 4, and Kenzley, 3, greet people as they drive by during a parade Sunday in Loreauville to welcome the soldier home from Iraq.

LOREAUVILLE — Sgt. Edward Gaddison III was welcomed back home to Loreauville Sunday afternoon with a parade of family, friends and members of the community after he returned from an 11-month tour with the Army National Guard in Iraq.

A steady stream of cars rolled down Main Street in Loreauville, led by a fire truck with siren blaring. Cars honked their horns with passengers leaning out of windows or standing up through sunroofs to greet Gaddison and family.

Gaddison’s wife Calandra, 29, said she and their children — son Royal, 4, and daughter Kenzley, 3 — missed him and were glad to see him again. The family picked Eddie Gaddison, 29, up at the airport on Wednesday.

“Most definitely (the kids missed him),” Calandra Gaddison said. “Very much.”

Gaddison said the unit’s mission was basically rebuilding a base. He had volunteered to go with a different unit than his for the mission, and that unit won’t be redeployed for five years. His unit is set to be deployed in July. He hasn’t learned yet where he stands as far as being deployed again in July or if the time he served already means he won’t have to be deployed.

The unit wasn’t affected much by the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, as everyone heading to or from Iraq was put in quarantine before leaving and upon arriving before being allowed to join the general populace.

The rest of the tour was typical — some good days, some bad days.

“We had one long, long, long night, Jan. 8, a missile attack,” he said. “That was pretty scary, just the unknown. Just glad to be home.”

For now, Gaddison is happy to be back home with his family.

“Yes, really glad,” he said as the parade of cars reached Loreauville High School, where he and his wife and children watched and greeted those driving by slowly.