JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Tears, cheers, and handmade signs filled the docks at Naval Station Mayport early Sunday morning as the USS Thomas Hudner returned home from a nine-month deployment.
Roughly 300 local sailors were deployed December 1 on a high-stakes mission that spanned the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. For the hundreds of families waiting at the port, the early morning wake-up call was a small price to pay to finally embrace their loved ones.
“Super excited. It’s been a long time,” said Dawn Hadden, standing among the eager crowd.
Cheers could be heard at the naval station as the warship entered the pier. As the sailors began disembarking, the pier erupted with emotion. Children sprinted into the arms of parents they hadn’t seen in months.
“It’s kind of a long trip across the ocean and through the Mediterranean Sea before that,” said Commander David Cook. “You know, with it being such a long deployment, they were itching to get back to their families.”
“They just met every challenge, every step of the way. And you couldn’t ask for a better crew,” said Commander Cook.
“It was stressful, but through prayers and faith that they would return home safe, that is what kept us going,” shared Allison Molligan. “That is what really kept us.”
Molligan was one of many who traveled long distances for the homecoming, flying all the way from Trinidad and Tobago to see her daughter step off the ship. “We are very happy to be here to welcome our whole ship family back to the U.S.,” Molligan added. “We want to show her that we really appreciate her.”
For other families, the homecoming means pausing the calendar to make up for milestones missed while the ship was overseas.
Nancy Bosack, who traveled from New York, the mother of one of the returning sailors, has an entire week of activities planned to hear her son’s stories, meet his crewmates, and celebrate a delayed holiday.
“We’re celebrating Christmas tonight,” Bosack said. “We brought his Christmas presents with us to our Airbnb. We’ve got everything wrapped, and we’re just ready to celebrate him.”
As for the sailors themselves, the immediate focus after nine months of shipboard rations is getting to hung loved ones and getting a taste of home. Sailor Jack Bosack couldn’t wait to get something he had been craving: “Wingstop? You guys want Wingstop tonight? Dunkin?”
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.