Sailors at Last Get a Sweet Taste of Home

Aboard the Shiloh on the night before its return from the war in Iraq, the sailors could barely contain their excitement. To pass the time, they smoked cigars, played cards, watched movies and ate ice cream sundaes. Most slept a few hours, if at all.

No matter how conversations started, they all ended with how badly the sailors wanted to be off the 567-foot-long guided missile cruiser and what they planned to do when they got home. One wanted to stretch out on his couch. Another couldn’t wait to soak in a bubble bath. A third was excited about driving his new SUV. All were eager to see family members.

It had been a long nine months at sea. When Friday morning finally arrived, the sailors donned their dress white uniforms and lined up along the ship’s rails, their hearts beating fast and feet fidgeting.

As the ship approached the city, one sailor snapped a photo and another teased, “You look like a tourist.”

The sailor responded, “I am a tourist. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been here in a while.”

More than 700 sailors aboard the Shiloh and the Mobile Bay returned home Friday from the war in Iraq, greeted by family members screaming and waving American flags. The missile cruisers, which arrived at the 32nd Street Naval Station just after 10 a.m., were the first West Coast ships to arrive from the war.

The first sailors off the ship were new fathers whose babies had been born during their deployments. Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Hanson rushed off the Shiloh and cradled his 6-week-old son, Luke, dressed in a red jumpsuit.

“Look at this guy. He’s handsome,” said Hanson, 31, smiling widely.

Hanson, who is from Cleveland, called his wife from the ship moments after she gave birth and heard Luke cry. But he said holding his son for the first time was overwhelming.

More homecomings will follow in the coming months, with the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln scheduled to arrive in San Diego next week.

The tearful reunions Friday ended nine months of anxiety for relatives, many of whom followed the progress of the war daily and feared that the two ships would be hit by enemy fire.

“We were so worried about her safety,” said Myrna Fontanares, whose 22-year-old daughter was on the Shiloh. “Now the family is complete again.”

Her daughter, Petty Officer 2nd Class Angelica Fontanares, said she was just relieved to be home in one piece. Hugging her parents, Fontanares shouted, “I’m so happy! I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time!”

The ships deployed July 24 and searched for Al Qaeda members as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Shiloh and Mobile Bay, which are part of the Lincoln battle group, were headed home in December when they were ordered back to the Persian Gulf. There, they watched for hostile aircraft and launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles against targets in Saddam Hussein’s regime in the first days of the war.

Signalman 2nd Class Cleavon McLendon, who has been in the Navy 10 years, said it was heartbreaking to tell his 7-year-old daughter in December that he wasn’t coming home as planned.

“I missed her whole first-grade year,” said McLendon, 29, who lives in Imperial Beach. “It’s kind of sad.”

But now that it’s over, McLendon said he is glad he was able to travel and participate in the war against Iraq. “To know you’re part of history is incredible,” he said.

The return was bittersweet for Command Master Chief Darlene Lovell, 45, whose Navy husband is still deployed and doesn’t know when he is returning. “That kind of puts a damper on the homecoming,” she said. “I was looking forward to him being on the pier.”

Lovell, who has been in the Navy for 26 years and just reenlisted for another two years, said she had mixed feelings about leaving the Shiloh. She is ready to sleep in a regular bed, but Lovell said she will miss the people she has lived with for the past nine months.

“It’s weird, but there’s kind of a sadness too,” she said, as she curled her hair and adjusted her uniform. “You get used to being here.”