FARGO - The family of an Iraqi man shot after helping North Dakota National Guard soldiers find roadside bombs is settling near here, with help from a relative and the soldiers themselves.

"The emotions are just starting to set in," said Sgt. 1st Class Shayne Beckert, who has been working to relocate the man's widow and seven children to the United States. "It's the beginning of a new life."

The woman and her children, who are not being identified because of potential danger to their relatives in Iraq, arrived in Fargo on two flights late Friday night and early Saturday morning.

One of the children is only a month old, and a 2-year-old girl suffered severe injuries to her right eye on April 30, when she was hit by bomb shrapnel as her mother was waiting in line to get a passport for her newborn.

Officials had planned to bring the family out of Iraq while the woman was still pregnant, but the child was born six weeks early, and the mother had to get another passport for her new child, said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.

Upon arriving in Fargo, one of the boys greeted waiting soldiers with a cheery "Hi, guys," said Pomeroy, who helped arrange the family's departure from Iraq. The children were presented with gifts, including toys and a soccer ball.

Beckert, Pomeroy and Guard Capt. Grant Wilz spoke Saturday at a news conference at the Fargo offices of Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, which is helping to resettle the family.

Pomeroy described himself as "emotionally wrung out," and at times during the news conference, Beckert and Wilz's eyes reddened and teared up.

"(The woman) knew they would not forget her," Pomeroy said. "She knew that these soldiers would get them to safety."

The woman's brother, who recently moved to the Fargo area, also is helping with the adjustment.

Beckert and Wilz, both of Bismarck, are members of the 141st Engineer Combat Battalion, which returned to North Dakota in February after spending a year in Iraq.

Pomeroy, who met the family earlier this month during a trip to Iraq, described them as "bright and strong and wonderful," and said their resourcefulness would help them adjust to life in the United States.

Guard soldiers said the family's husband and father, whom Guard members refer to as "Mr. M," provided them with information about bomb locations and insurgent activity. The soldiers' job was to clear roadside bombs near three bases in north-central Iraq.

In January, insurgents pulled the man from his truck and shot him repeatedly in front of one of his sons, the soldiers said.

Beckert and Wilz took up the cause of bringing the man's family to the United States when they returned from Iraq in mid-February.

The family's names and most personal details are not being disclosed because the soldiers fear insurgents will use them to go after relatives who remain in Iraq.

Pomeroy said the woman and her family were in hiding until a military escort brought them into the Green Zone, a secure area in Baghdad, on May 5. Pomeroy visited the family two days later while on a trip to Iraq.

They were flown to Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday, then left for New York City on Friday. After coming into New York, the family flew to Fargo on two separate flights.

Pomeroy said the woman described her journey to the United States as "her birthday … the beginning of a new life." They are in the country by special permission, which lasts three months, and the family has applied for permanent asylum. Pomeroy said he was optimistic it would be granted.

Beckert said he met the man he calls Mr. M while on a patrol in Iraq last summer. His truck had broken down along the roadside, and an AK-47 assault rifle and two ammunition clips were inside. Beckert and other soldiers had to convince themselves the man didn't mean them harm.

The soldiers gradually gained his confidence, and he helped them with information about hidden bombs, insurgent activity and general goings-on.

Pomeroy said the North Dakota soldiers persisted in their efforts to bring the man's family out of Iraq when they could have forgotten the family as one of the casualties of war.

"They might have come back and not looked back," Pomeroy said. "But that is not the character of the North Dakota National Guard soldier."