Happy Homecoming For U.S. Sailors

After six months of putting in grueling hours in the war against terrorism, the crew of the first aircraft carrier to deploy after Sept. 11 returned home Wednesday to cheers of "USA! USA! USA!" from thousands of relatives and friends.

Sailors lined the rails as the USS Theodore Roosevelt pulled into the Norfolk Naval Station shortly after 9 a.m., ending a 189-day cruise that included air strikes against Afghanistan.

Adm. Robert J. Natter, commander in chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, flew on board as the ship neared shore to thank the crew for a job well done.

"We still have 30 ships out there and thousands of shipmates who continue to do the job," he added. He noted that the carrier did not lose any crew to enemy action during the mission, adding, "I give credit to the fact that everybody's head was in the game."

At the Norfolk Naval Station, thousands began gathering on the pier as early as 6 a.m., many carrying flowers or American flags. As the ship pulled into view, the crowd roared.

Relatives of Shawn Etheridge, 21, a nuclear reactor technician, carried a sign reading, "Welcome Home Shawn! We salute you and the T.R. crew for your courage, honor and commitment. Congratulations on a job well done."

At a tent for crewmen who are new fathers, Lt. Cmdr. Carther Jorgensen cradled his 4-month old son, Alexander Charles, each smiling broadly at each other.

"I'm so glad I'm home. It seems he knew who I was. He smiled," Jorgensen said.

The 189-day stint — nine days longer than the typical deployment - included 159 straight days at sea without a port call, a record for an aircraft carrier. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower set the previous record of 152 in 1980.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Paul Williamson said some days were so long and difficult that he sometimes just wanted to get away from everyone for a while — no easy feat aboard a bustling carrier where privacy is minimal and space is at a premium.

"I'm excited about going home — even though I don't look it, because I'm tired," Williamson, 22, of Cleveland, Ohio, said Tuesday as the ship approached the coast.

On Tuesday morning, about 60 aircraft flew off the Roosevelt to head to their bases in Virginia, South Carolina, Florida and Washington state.

The remaining aircraft making up the carrier wing, six SH-60 helicopters, flew off early Wednesday, about three hours before the carrier pulled into Norfolk Naval Station.

Members of the squadron packed their equipment in their hangar bay on Tuesday. All over the ship, thousands of sailors handled last-minute duties and stuffed their gear and souvenirs into their bags.

But in a solemn ceremony aboard the carrier, the flag that three weary firefighters raised from the ruins of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 — an image captured in a famous photograph — was returned to them Tuesday. The flag had been sent to the aircraft carrier in October as the ship steamed toward waters near Afghanistan.

The Roosevelt and three other ships in its battle group — the guided missile cruisers USS Leyte Gulf and USS Vella Gulf, and the destroyer USS Peterson — were to return to Norfolk Naval Station. The oiler USS Detroit will return to Earle Naval Weapons Station in New Jersey. More than 7,000 sailors and Marines were aboard the ships.

The Roosevelt departed on Sept. 19, with the recent horror of the terrorist attacks fueling the crew's determination.

"Everybody's got to make a stand sometime," said Rear Adm. Mark P. Fitzgerald, commander of the Roosevelt battle group. "Our young men and women chose to make a stand, for their families, for America, for their friends. They all realized this was going to be a life-changing event."