They had dreamed of a different homecoming. Marine Capt. Jennifer Harris was supposed to be welcomed back from Iraq this week with hugs and tears, plenty of laughter, balloons and American flags. 
 
But yesterday, the proud Swampscott family who was ushered across the icy tarmac of Hanscom Air Force Base and into a heated waiting area, always knew war could break their hearts. 
 
Just before 1 p.m., a white charter jet carrying a single flag-draped coffin descended from a frigid and cloudless sky. 
 
Jennifer Harris, the incandescent small-town girl who willed herself through the U.S. Naval Academy and into the pilot’s seat of a Marine helicopter, was home. 

And the parents, aunts, uncles and cousins who once imagined they’d embrace their 28-year-old “angel” in the bustle of an airline terminal, were instead led out to a lonely cluster of chairs on the runway. 
 
Sounds of tribute were all that echoed in the crisp air: The snapping of flags in the bitter wind, and the precise cadence of a Marine honor guard, who carried their comrade’s coffin from the plane to a waiting hearse. 
 
Just before the door of the hearse was closed, Raymond Harris - along with Marine Maj. Christopher Aaby, a close friend who escorted the casket back from the Dover Delaware Air Force Base - paused for a few solitary moments and kissed the casket of his only child. 
 
State police Lt. Dean Bennett has watched too many such homecomings take place in the past few years. But leading a contingent of troopers yesterday, Bennett was struck not just by the poignancy of the moment, but by his connection to it. 
 
It was some 10 years ago, Bennett recalled, when he accompanied his son to the same military academy selection board that Jen Harris and her father attended. Harris was chosen to go to Annapolis, and Bennett’s son attended the Air Force Academy. 
 
As he stood in solemn tribute yesterday, Bennett could not help but think of his son, a B-1 pilot, now stationed in Baghdad. 
 
“Beyond the irony of knowing I was once in the same selection room with Captain Harris,” Bennett said, “there is also the fact that I flew a state police helicopter for 11 years. 
 
“I had a couple of my colleagues say to me this morning, ‘Are you sure you want to be there today?’ ” Bennett said. “This isn’t simply what we do, or my job. It’s my honor to help, in whatever way we can - to help the families bring these heroes home.” 
 
From Hanscom, the 14-car procession of family cars, state and Swampscott police cruisers and military vehicles made the trip back to Swampscott and the little green ranch house on Elwin Street. 
 
Ray Harris, who rode with his daughter, had the hearse stop outside a front yard bordered by American flags. The door was opened one more time, and an observer noted that Ray looked as if he wanted to lift his daughter out of the car and help her into the house one last time. 
 
Last night, her uncle, Anthony Macone, wanted it known that in the deepest hour of their grief, the Harris family’s thoughts were with all those other military families who’ve gone through the pain of such a homecoming.  [continue]

"There are six other heroes who were killed when Jen’s helicopter was shot down (a week ago),” Anthony Macone said. “Our prayers and our thoughts on this day are with their families. So many wonderful things have already been said about Jen. So many wonderful things have already been done for our family. 
 
“We’d like people to remember all the other families who have shared, and will share, such a moment. Our prayers are with them today.”

Jennifer's Family Speaks (audio files from the Boston Herald):

She just waved back:

The Marines are the Best of the Best:

She wanted to help people: