RUMFORD – Christmas couldn’t be better this year for the Nile family.

Mother, grandmother, grandfather and sister have surrounded Aaron Nile with love since he arrived on Dec. 12 from his third tour of duty in Iraq.

“I’ve gone through so many emotions, being back with my support structure,” he said Tuesday from his mother’s living room sofa. On his lap was his 6-year-old son, Dakota. Aaron and his wife, who now lives in Illinois with their other two children, are in the midst of a divorce.

Aaron was born in Rumford where he spent his first few years, then moved with his mother, Sandra Nile, to Colorado and California where she served in the U.S. Army from 1986 to 1989.

During those years, he returned every summer to visit his grandparents, Richard and Carla Nile of Dixfield.

They were thrilled to see their grandson this week.

“It makes our Christmas,” said Richard Nile, who recently retired from Meroby Elementary School after teaching for 35 years.

“We’ve been waiting for so long for this,” said Aaron’s grandmother, Carla.

The family, including Aaron’s sister, Kati, will share a catered dinner on Christmas, then his grandmother will cook up a birthday meal a few days later when Aaron turns 25.

Aaron joined the military right out of high school. Just before he completed basic training, his outfit from Fort Carson, Colo., was shipped out to Iraq. Aaron followed soon after.

He is an E-4 supply specialist for aviation. The first deployment was for four months near the Syrian border in Iraq. The next deployment sent him to Baghdad, where he served 12 months in 2005-06. Then in September 2007, he was sent to Kirkuk. He returned to Fort Carson on Nov. 14 this year.

Although he’s been shot at and he’s experienced improvised explosive devices exploding near his convoy, Aaron has not been injured.

“I’ve been very fortunate,” he said.

Because he has served in Iraq three times over a five-year period, he has had a chance to see changes in the country.

“There’s been a big improvement in Iraq. The media always shows the negatives, but soldiers are building schools and loans have been made to small businesses to rebuild their shops,” he said.

He said although there are areas of Iraq that are routinely attacked by insurgents, there are other parts of the country capable of protecting their people.

He doesn’t plan to re-up when his hitch ends, although he likes being in the military. He expects to have custody of his 6-year-old son and he doesn’t want to be away from him as he has been for much of the past few years. He knows he’ll be sent to Afghanistan if he re-enlists.

His mother encouraged him to join the military because of the positive influence it had on her life.

“I’ve seen my son grow into a stronger adult and human being with the military’s help. The military brings out the best and worst in people,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Aaron likes the military – the training he is sure he can transfer to a civilian job, the steady paychecks and benefits, and the chance to see new countries and meet new people.

“I’ve met some of the coolest guys out there and every day something new, something completely different, happens,” he said.

Once he gets his home life settled and he leaves the military next fall, he plans to move back East. Not likely to the River Valley area but somewhere closer to his family.

Since he’s been home, he’s had a chance to mellow out, to visit aunts and uncles, to attend a family reunion.

He insists he’s doesn’t want presents, but his mother said that won’t happen, there will be presents for him.

But even if there were not presents, the tree and the snow, this Christmas would be perfect, his mother said.

“I have my daughter home, and my son home in one piece,” she said. “We still worry about every soldier over there. They are someone’s child, sibling, mother or father. I wish every family could have their soldier home.”