CAREY, Wis. -- Claudia Cox was never so happy to be awakened at 3 a.m. as earlier this month.

Her son, Richard Meeker, arrived home on leave after his second tour of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Cpl. Meeker, based in Okinawa, Japan, returned home March 10. He got into Duluth around midnight, then drove through a storm.

"It was a really great surprise," said Cox.

Meeker, 24, is part of the 5th ANGLICO -- Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company. The ground unit's job is to control aircraft and naval gunfire.

Meeker is a field radio operator. The teams include observers who spot the enemy. Then the team provides information to whatever unit is shooting. They also supply  batteries for radios, food, water and other necessities.

It's a unique joint mission, according to Meeker.

Hurley Grad Enlists

A 2003 graduate of Hurley High School, Meeker enlisted in July 2003.

"I just missed the invasion," he said.

Cox said her only son was interested in the military for years.

Holding his thumb and forefinger two inches apart, Meeker said, "I was this close to being in the Army."

But his mother ran into a Marine in full dress blue uniform. She was dazzled, and the Marine gave her a booklet about the corps.

After her son interviewed with a Marine recruiter, she said, "he had stars in his eyes."

Meeker, who wanted to work in electronics, said, "he gave me what I wanted. He really did sell it well -- to be a part of the few and proud."

When Meeker went off to boot camp, Meeker said, "We had never been apart."

She and her husband James Cox went to San Diego for their son's military graduation. The Marine Corps band played and nearly 900 recruits advanced.

"After this many years, he's a Marine, a man," she said. "I support him 1,000 percent."

From Okinawa to Iraq

In 2004-05, Meeker was stationed in Okinawa with the 12th Marines, an artillery unit.

In Iraq, he was on the Jordanian border. U.S. troops searched traffic coming into Iraq, confiscating contraband such as tobacco and weapons. They trained Iraqi army troops in weapons handling. They arrested suspected terrorists. They patrolled for improvised explosive devices.

Meeker's enlistment ended and he got out of the Marines for about a year in 2007. He worked at other jobs, then reenlisted.

In 2008, he was back in Iraq, this time with ANGLICO.

They were living in two-man tents at an air strip "in the middle of nowhere."  It was mid-December, 10 degrees. There were no heaters in the tents.

"We're living in the dirt," Meeker said.

By the end of January, they got a bigger tent that slept 18 people. At night, their breath froze near the top of the tent. Then it thawed and rained down on them. In February, they got heaters. There was a shower trailer for twice weekly showers. They ate twice daily "tray rations," bigger portions of the Meals Ready to Eat.

"It's not good food," Meeker said.

He lost 25 pounds.

"We sent lots of packages to Iraq," Cox said.

That included hundreds of pairs of socks, which she told him not to bring home.

He told her, "Ma, there's kids all over Iraq wearing your socks."

She missed her son on holidays. He spent his 21st birthday in Iraq.

"Christmas was tough," she said.

"Just another day," Meeker said.

Next Stop: Afghanistan

Meeker said it was hard to leave Iraq.

"A lot of guys are still out there. We came home early to do workups for Afghanistan. It was kind of hard leaving -- to leave a whole brigade behind.

"I'm here, back home. They're still in Iraq."

On Thursday, Meeker headed back to Okinawa, where he'll train for a deployment to Afghanistan in March 2010.

"I've been waiting for Afghanistan since I joined the Marine Corps," he said. "I feel that's where we should be, where I should be -- we'll save Marines' lives."

He is modest about his contributions.

"I don't think I did anything special," he said. "To us, it's not anything special. Marines run to the gunfire."