5 1/2 Months in Persian Gulf Region : It’s Dad’s Day as Ranger Returns Home

There was cheering and clapping, whooping and whistling, but words seemed to fail Wednesday as dozens of young fathers rushed ashore from the aircraft carrier Ranger and set eyes on their new babies, born during the 5 1/2 months their ship has been away from its home port of San Diego.

“Gorgeous,” was the one-word assessment of Thomas Hoctor, 22, as he stared at his first child, Patrick Joseph, who was born Nov. 12. “I missed you so much,” was all his wife, Sandra, could manage.

The scene was replayed again and again as many of the 83 new fathers on the ship found their wives and babies waiting among the hundreds of relatives and friends gathered at North Island Naval Air Station to welcome the crew home from its voyage to the Persian Gulf region. The Navy gave each new father a long-stemmed red rose and the privilege of being among the first to leave the ship after it pulled into port about 10 a.m.

The volatile situation in the Persian Gulf had made the extended trip particularly difficult for the 4,750 crew members as well as the families and friends who remained behind. The Ranger was stationed in the North Arabian Sea so that its jets would have quick access to the troubled gulf.

The ship sailed to the region as part of the Reagan Administration’s plan to provide protection for re-flagged Kuwaiti oil tankers, ensuring safe passage past the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the gulf and the heavily fortified coastline of Iran.

Last May, 37 American sailors were killed when an Iraqi jet attacked the guided missile frigate Stark, which was on patrol in the Persian Gulf.

“The hardest thing is not knowing where you’re going to be tomorrow, if you’re going to be here at all,” said Seaman Michael Jackson, 20, of Chula Vista as he waited on the ship’s flight deck. “We were in area of the world where something like that could happen.”

He said he passed the time aboard the ship lifting weights and reading letters from his wife, who he was sure was among the boisterous crowd below. “Wild horses couldn’t keep her away,” he said. “I’m going to go home, sit back, relax and call mom and dad.”

“All that stuff over there scared me to death,” said Tiffany Bjerkes, 22, as she waited for her husband, Robert, to find her among the crowd. “He was real nervous before he left. He went and said good-bye to his friends and family. He didn’t think he was coming back.”

At a press conference on board the ship, Rear Adm. Anthony A. Less, who commanded the Ranger’s carrier group until several weeks ago, said the Ranger’s mission had been a success. “We were there to support the administration’s policy in the gulf,” Less said. “We were there to keep the straits open for the flow of oil,” Less said. “It’s a vital mission, I feel, and I think everyone felt that way over there.”

Capt. Brenton B. Hardy, who took over command of the carrier group from Less, said: “Deterrence works. We went out there with the capability to do most anything called upon and fortunately we worked the low end of the spectrum, and that was just presence. I think our being there prevented the adversary from pressing us. We kept the straits open. Oil flowed.”

As the ship pulled into port its loud speakers blared music from the movie “Top Gun,” much to the delight of the waiting crowd. The popular movie about a fighter pilot was filmed in part aboard the Ranger, whose men claim they are the real “Top Guns.”

“We had the nickname first,” boasted Lt. Dave Wray, assistant public affairs officer aboard the ship.

Friends and relatives on shore sent back waves of cheers and waved home-made signs intended to help the crewmen locate the right people. Some of the signs, such as “Welcome Home Mike Krupp,” seemed helpful. Others, such as “Honey, I Love You,” and “Welcome Home, John,” seemed less likely to produce results.