Welcome home sailors: USS Wichita crew returns 7 months at sea

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This week was a special homecoming for the women and men in the Navy and aboard the USS Wichita. They returned home after months away from their family and friends.

Action News Jax reports from Naval Station Mayport on the emotional homecoming.

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Here at The Mayport pier a number of sailors are waiting to get off this ship, the USS Wichita. They have been away from their loved ones for seven months now. Take a look behind me, people are getting this brow ready to get these sailors down on the ground to greet their loved ones.

Meet the Richards family I spoke with mom Ambyr Richards who says having her husband Jonathan come home means everything.

“He left in March and came back in June for a couple of months. They swapped out A G’s, he left in August and now he’s coming home,” said Ambyr Richards.

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Ambyr and her husband share three kids. Their eldest says it’s been hard but he’s proud of his dad.

“The best that I can say is that it can be devastating but it gives me an opportunity to mature and be a grown up for real life,” said Sebastian Talent.

“Exciting, it’s been a long time coming. I’m just glad to be home with my family,” said Jonathan Richards.

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The majority of these sailors have been gone since March. The U.S. Navy tells me these brave women and men departed for Latin America to help with a narcotics mission. It was a success when these sailors helped to stop a large amount of cocaine -- with street value of $316 million -- from getting to drug traffickers that amounted to a total of $316 million.

The Richards family tells me one of the first things they are looking forward to doing now that their family is back together is to binge-watch a ton of Halloween movies.

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