On Monday, Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason Stohlquist expected to meet with some fifth-graders, hug his mom and go to his family's home on East Main Street for the first time in more than two years.

When he pulled into the Leggee Elementary School parking lot and saw a fire truck waiting there, he knew it would take a bit longer for him to get home.

Stohlquist, an Air Force firefighter who recently completed a tour in Iraq, received a hero's reception as Huntley veterans, firefighters, police officers and public officials turned out to welcome him home.

Stohlquist stopped at Leggee to meet his cousin, Caroline Piske, and her classmates in the fifth grade. The 30-year-old soldier became misty-eyed as three fifth-grade classes greeted him with high fives.

"It feels good," Stohlquist said. "I thought it'd just be a bunch of kids. We came around to the school, and I saw the fire truck. I got a little choked up."

Fire trucks, police squad cars and bikers from Warriors' Watch escorted Stohlquist from Leggee to the Huntley American Legion.

"We want to honor our veterans - and he is a firefighter in the military, so it's appropriate," Huntley Fire Chief Jim Saletta said.

Stohlquist arrived at the American Legion to find a welcome party of local officials, friends and family members, many of them waving American flags or holding up banners.

"The town of Huntley really came out in force," said Crystal Lake resident Joe Alger, a member of Warriors' Watch. "They're a very patriotic town."

Huntley Trustee Pam Fender was one of the people who greeted Stohlquist at the legion hall. "This type of thing didn't happen when my generation came home from Vietnam," Fender said.

Stohlquist is a former part-time firefighter for the Huntley Fire Protection District and a 1997 graduate of Huntley High School. He has served in the Air Force for more than six years.

As he caught up with family and locals over cold beer at the American Legion, Stohlquist said he plans to spend Thanksgiving with his family before returning to the base in North Dakota.

"It's nice to see the troops still have support," he said.