Some 250 Nebraska soldiers returning home Sunday from Iraq will be greeted with a hero’s welcome along O Street on their way to ceremonies at Haymarket Park.

Buses carrying the Nebraska Army National Guard troops will travel down O Street from 84th to Sun Valley Boulevard, before exiting at the baseball park.

The buses bringing the soldiers home from Fort McCoy, Wis., are expected to arrive in Lincoln at about 10 a.m. 

Welcome home ceremonies at Haymarket Park will begin at about 11 a.m.

The troops, members of the 1-167th Cavalry and 134th Infantry Detachment (Long Range Surveillance), were in Iraq for 15 months and have been away from home for 20 months.

Most of the soldiers hail from Lincoln, Beatrice, Fairbury, Fremont, Wahoo, Crete and other communities in Southeast Nebraska.

In Iraq, their mission primarily centered on providing base defense. 

Among dignitaries who will greet them at Haymarket Park are Gov. Dave Heineman, Sen. Ben Nelson, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, Rep. Adrian Smith and Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke, Nebraska’s adjutant general.

Sunday’s bus route will bring the troops into Lincoln from the Interstate 80 exit at Waverly. The buses will travel west on Cornhusker to 84th Street, then move up 84th to O.