Family, Embattled Sailor Reunited : Navy: One of four sailors who went public with alleged safety problems on the nuclear ship Nimitz was met by his family when the ship docked in San Diego.

Rima Puma wept when she saw her son Friday after he debarked from a nuclear aircraft carrier in San Diego. Her son was returning not from a war-torn region but from a heated battle with the Navy aboard the Nimitz.

Machinist Mate 2nd Class Steven Puma, one of four sailors disciplined for blowing the whistle earlier this month about purported safety problems aboard the vessel, said: “These last two weeks have been very stressful.”

And that was it.

At the advice of his lawyer, Puma said he could not discuss the controversy that has embroiled his life since he and three others told a Seattle television station that crew members had flouted safety regulations and the four threatened to sabotage the ship’s reactors to draw attention to their situation.

Earlier this week, the Navy ruled that Puma and the other three sailors would no longer be allowed to work aboard a nuclear vessel--signaling a reassignment that will cost each sailor almost $2,000 in annual salary. Puma’s supervising officers “lost confidence” in him and the others after they spoke to the television station about safety problems, rather than take their complaints to the Navy through hot lines or other officers, said Lt. Cmdr. Bob Pritchard, a Navy spokesman.

Since stepping forward, Puma and the others were threatened, his wife Sara Puma said. Both she and her mother-in-law flew to San Diego this week in hopes of catching a glimpse of Steven Puma. On Friday, the Navy obliged, and officials showed the Pumas aboard the vessel after it docked.

The entire Puma family were given time alone in Capt. Robert C. Williamson’s quarters, and then all three talked with Williamson about Puma’s plight.

The Puma family plans to spend the weekend together in San Diego and on Monday, Steven Puma will return to the Nimitz. It could take weeks--or days--until Puma is reassigned, Pritchard said.

For Rima Puma, this is the first time she has seen her son in a year. She says she is angry at the Navy for making a scapegoat of her son.

“It’s been a nightmare. It’s not an experience I wish for any other parent to go through,” said Rima Puma. “It just leaves me speechless. They have made it appear that my son is unreliable. My son hasn’t done anything wrong, and he is honest, trustworthy and reliable.”

She and her daughter-in-law said they were overjoyed to see Steven but worried about the Navy, which has formally closed its investigation into Puma’s allegations after finding that nine sailors cheated on a safety exam.

“What about all those men on the ship? We still have to push for further investigation,” Sara Puma said. “I wish I could get them all off the ship, but I can’t do that. I wish I could. I wish I could make them stay in port and have an investigation now.”