Selectmen and public safety officials honored a Wareham serviceman on Saturday as he returned for a brief visit home before deployment to Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Cedric Lopes of the United States Marine Corps returned from two years of training at Camp Pendleton in California on August 11, and an entourage of emergency vehicles escorted him from Onset to his home in West Wareham.

After arriving, members of the Board of Selectmen presented Lopes with a certificate recognizing him for his service.

Lopes will return to Camp Pendleton on August 12 and will be deployed as a military police officer in Afghanistan on August 20.

"When it comes to our service people, they're number one," said Selectman Steve Holmes, who helped coordinate the recognition along with local volunteers. "This honors the service of the young man or woman, and it brings the community together."

Holmes said it was important to honor Lopes before he risked his life for his country.

"We want to honor [military] service in whichever way we can," said Holmes. "Let [servicemen] know that the community supports them and we think of them."

Lopes returned home to many family members, including Cedric Lopes Jr., his two-year-old son who ran out of the house to meet dad as he pulled into the driveway.

Lopes and his wife, Shelbi, are  expecting a second child who is due in February. Lopes will return from Afghanistan in April.

Lopes said that he was happy about the welcoming reception and that it is important that servicemen and women feel appreciated.

"Not many people get recognized for being in the military. Especially because of this war that a lot of people don't support," he said.

He added that he hoped others in town could get the same recognition he received.

"The other people that I know that have already served or are still in it, I'm pretty sure they haven't gotten recognized," Lopes added.

If Holmes and other volunteers have their way, that may soon change.

Holmes said that he would like to start a local organization that honors members of the military who are coming home or getting deployed.

"A group that could do a lot of things to honor all of the Wareham" service people, said Holmes.

Holmes along with other Selectmen and town and public safety officials recently honored another Wareham soldier, U.S. Army Specialist Julio Canizales, when he returned home from Afghanistan and Germany on July 4.

The reception for Canizales was coordinated in conjunction with "A Hero's Welcome," an organization that coordinates welcoming events for members of the military returning from service.

Holmes said that he liked the idea of honoring local servicemen and that he would like to start a local chapter.

Following the announcement, Holmes said, many volunteers expressed interest in the group.

Though Holmes is not sure whether the organization will be a local chapter of A Hero's Welcome or a separate organization, he thinks it can do a lot to support Wareham service people.

"It's going to morph into a great program, I believe," said Holmes.