‘Please Come Back Safe’

With tearful wives and children waving goodbye, the destroyer John Young departed Thursday for the Persian Gulf--prepared to take part in what the ship’s captain called “real world events.”

“Goodbye daddy, please come back safe,” sobbed a 3-year-old girl as the Tomahawk missile-equipped ship moved slowly into San Diego Bay for what is scheduled as a six-month mission.

Though ship departures are often tearful events in this Navy community, the war on terrorism has added another level of anxiety for military families.

Because of safety concerns, the Navy asked reporters recording the send-off not to use the last names of crew members or their families. “It’s always difficult when they leave, but now it’s so scary,” said Lyna, whose husband is a Navy electrician. “We’re so proud of them, but everybody is afraid of what could happen.”

“There is definitely fear,” said Jessica, whose husband works on the ship’s helicopters. “We’re all praying that God will watch over them.”

Although the possibility of violence directed at Navy families may be remote, concern is exacerbated by an infamous 1989 incident in which a van driven by the wife of the captain of the guided missile cruiser Vincennes exploded on a busy San Diego street.

No arrests were made, but the FBI investigated the incident for months as a possible terrorist retaliation for the mistaken downing of an Iranian airliner by the Vincennes a year earlier.

The 563-foot John Young is assigned to join two ships near Hawaii en route to the Persian Gulf to enforce the U.N. maritime sanctions against Iraq. But the ship’s captain said the vessel could easily be reassigned to join other ships in the Arabian Sea that are launching missiles at targets in Afghanistan.

“There could be some multi-missions or emerging missions that could be folded in to respond to real world events,” he said.

The departure of the John Young--named for a Revolutionary War hero--is another indication of this community’s growing contribution to the U.S. military offensive.

The first Tomahawk missiles fired at terrorist strongholds came from a San Diego ship, the destroyer John Paul Jones. Like the John Young, the John Paul Jones had initially been assigned to enforce maritime sanctions by stopping and searching ships.

Marines from Camp Pendleton and Navy SEAL commandos from Coronado are on ships in the Arabian Sea, and some may already have deployed to staging areas near or inside Afghanistan.

Helicopters from Coronado are on carriers off the Pakistan coast. And soon the carrier John C. Stennis and seven ships in its battle group will leave San Diego to relieve the carrier Kitty Hawk to provide a “platform” for fighter aircraft and helicopters carrying combat troops.

The John Young captain said the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon have sharpened the 350-person crew’s sense of duty and even stifled that oldest of military traditions: grumbling among the troops. “No one is asking why we are deploying,” he said. “No one is wondering why we have to go there.”

As a morale booster, several sailors and their wives met for a festive dinner at a Japanese restaurant Tuesday night. “You watch TV and everything makes you feel unsafe,” said Wendy, whose husband is a gunner’s mate. “It takes a lot of courage to do what these guys do,” said Denise, married barely a month to a John Young sailor. “We need to have courage too.”