USS Lincoln returns home to San Diego Bay
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CORONADO, Calif. (AP) -- Sailors disembarked the USS Lincoln on Thursday following a deployment that included a record 265 uninterrupted days at sea supporting the Iran war and reports of supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among the crew.
Families waiting for the aircraft carrier’s arrival in San Diego Bay described crying and losing sleep after hearing about the ship’s food shortages and tough conditions. Many said the sailors had sent lists of the food they were craving.
Abel Ramirez, 20, walked off the carrier with a big grin, overjoyed that his first deployment was over.
“It feels amazing,” he said while headed out to search for his parents who drove from Texas. “There was a certain point when I never thought I would come off.”
The carrier drew national attention following reports of stress among the crew and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products, during its Iran war mission.
Dozens of sailors stood atop the Lincoln as it glided past the cityscape of downtown San Diego toward cheering families who were carrying flowers and balloons and ringing cowbells.
Cassity Garduque, 14, waved as her mom in her sailor uniform frantically waved back from the top deck. “It feels really overwhelming,” she said about being reunited, adding she’s glad her mom won’t need to eat ramen almost every day.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew out to the Lincoln on Wednesday to give the crew the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor a unit can receive.
Hegseth pushed back against what he said were efforts to turn the “Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”
Capt. Daniel Keeler, the ship’s commander, said most of the crew was on their first deployment and that the issues they faced were normal for such a long deployment, adding everyone had access to four meals a day.
Among the first to depart the carrier at the naval base in Coronado were 64 fathers meeting their babies for the first time, the Navy said.
Waiting for the Lincoln to bring her husband home, sailor Kathy Monterrosa held her 6-month-old daughter, Sarahi, outfitted in a tiny blue and white sailor dress.
“She’s our deployment baby,” said Monterrosa, of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
It was tough to hear about the ship’s conditions while she was pregnant, she said. “I was crying a lot and worried. I wasn’t sure if he was OK or not,” she said.
When she finally heard from her husband, he told her it was “pretty bad.”
Sailor Steven Rivas beamed as he held is 7-month-old daughter.
“I couldn’t grasp the reality of it,” he said about coming home. He said he became overwhelmed as they pulled into the bay, “seeing everyone and knowing my family was waiting for me.”
According to the citation that Hegseth read to the crew, the Lincoln and its strike group executed nearly 3,700 combat missions, launched 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles, shot down 77 one-way attack drones, sank 64 Iranian warships, and destroyed 21 anti-ship cruise missiles.