As soon as he rounded the corner to walk down to the dock, dozens of blue lights began to flash, sirens wailed and trumpets, nearly silent by comparison, tootled those age-old American anthems. Sgt. James (Chris) Brown had just returned to the Island from a nine-month tour of duty as a member of the Army 181st Infantry as part of a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, and the community marked it as only they could.

“This was really over the top,” said his mother, Deborah Brown. “That’s the part of the Vineyard that nobody else anywhere has. You won’t get that kind of welcome everywhere.”

And it was not lost on Sergeant Brown, who greeted his family and friends with hugs that seemed to knock the wind right out of them. He saluted veterans of wars gone by, who proudly welcomed him for a second time into their ranks.

His older sister, Abby, dressed in green shorts that matched his fatigues, relieved him of his backpack so he could greet the police officers who stood in an endless row of salute, each one breaking their official pose to give him a big hello.

Sergeant Brown previously served in Kosovo on an 18-month deployment from 2006 to 2007. For his work as a member of the United Nations’ peacekeeping forces there, he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal.

Upon his return from that deployment, Mrs. Brown only recalls the color guard greeting her son at the dock. After his service in Kosovo, Sergeant Brown joined the Chilmark police department. No wonder the police came out in full force Tuesday afternoon: They were greeting one of their own.

Jo Ann Murphy, Dukes County director of veterans services, said, “The fire department usually tries to get a couple of trucks out, and I know the police made a special effort because Sergeant Brown is a policeman, but they always have a great showing.”

This was the first welcome committee in the last eight months, said Mrs. Murphy, although more veterans could have come home in that time. “If the family contacts us to let us know, then we get the word out,” she said.

“The whole thing becomes even more meaningful, with all the community connections,” said Mrs. Brown. “People here are so supportive in the ways that matter — not the big splashy ways, but in the little ways, like prayers and phone calls.”

Sergeant Brown is among over 350 veterans on Martha’s Vineyard, according to Mrs. Murphy. “There are a lot more kids serving from here than you’d think,” she said. She isn’t sure how many Islanders are currently serving overseas. “If people don’t tell me, I don’t know who’s back. But there is at least a handful over there right now. They seem to come back and forth pretty quick, but I’m sure to them that it’s not,” she said.

Sergeant Brown said he had heard that his mother had been “going berserk” before his arrival, but he couldn’t have been happier to see her and the rest of his family, his friends — and the ocean. “I really missed the salty air, and being near the ocean. I’m so happy to be here for the summer. It’s the best time to be on the Island, and I didn’t want to miss it,” he said.

“I missed all the little things you don’t think of, like yard work,” he said laughed.

“After you’ve been in Afghanistan, even yard work becomes fun.”