CLEVELAND -- A week after their return from Iraq, Marines and sailors from the 3rd Battalion 25th regiment were honored with a second homecoming celebration.

The Brook Park-based unit gathered Friday at the IX Center, where hundreds of friends and family told them "welcome home and thank you."

The 3/25 is officially deployed until Jan. 3, but since their mission is over, the Marine Corps will allow them to request early deactivation.

A separate ceremony was held Friday in Akron for the Akron-based 3/25 weapons company.

More than 2,000 people attended the ceremony, including Beans, the dog adopted by the unit while in Iraq and who returned with the Marines last week.

Beans is now living with the family of Jeff Boskovitch, one of the Marines killed in action during the summer.