USS Harry S. Truman Battle Group Returns Home Today

ABOARD THE USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (AP) - The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman left Virginia in December for a routine overseas deployment but ended up having to "give 'em hell" in combat.

The Truman, with 5,400 sailors and Marines on board, was to pull into Norfolk Naval Station on Friday, becoming the first East Coast carrier to return from the Iraq war. A second Norfolk-based carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is due home next week.

"It's kind of a relief" to be coming home, said Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Elizabeth Lay, 23, of Billings, Mont. "These past six months have been educational, stressful and wonderful, all at the same time."

Eight smaller ships in the Truman strike group also were to arrive Friday in the largest East Coast Navy homecoming since the war. A total of about 8,000 sailors and Marines were on board all nine ships.

Not all the returning warriors will be able to go home immediately after the 1,096-foot Truman docks. Airman Maxwell Wollman was among some sailors on duty who won't be allowed to leave the base until Saturday.

"Truthfully, I'm not excited at all," said Wollman, a 24-year-old aviation ordnanceman from Ft. Wayne, Ind., who was on his first deployment. "I get to watch everybody else get off. I'm more excited about Saturday."

Still, he said he was "happy to smell American air," adding, "It lets you know you're going home."

Crewmembers spent Thursday packing their gear, watching videos and cleaning the ship for its homecoming.

When the carrier left on Dec. 5 for a scheduled six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf, sailors knew from the political rhetoric that they might have go to war and live up to the ship's slogan: "Give 'em hell."

"We trained to that tempo," said Capt. Michael R. Groothousen, the Truman's commanding officer. "It's the same training we would always do, but there was probably a little more spring in our step because of the possibility we could see combat."

There also was "the honest fear that you may not return home with everyone you leave with," Groothousen acknowledged. "That plays on you a little bit emotionally when you set sail."

No crew members were lost, and any worries about safety couldn't undermine sailors' belief in the mission, Groothousen said.

The call came early on March 20 - the second day of the war - when ships in the Truman strike group launched Tomahawk missiles onto targets in northern Iraq.

Over the next 30 days, aircraft taking off from the Truman dropped more than 700 tons of bombs on targets in northern Iraq to support U.S. infantry and special operations forces on the ground. That was more than any other battle group in the war, officials said.

"What we did is phenomenal," Groothousen said. "I could not be more proud of the contributions we made."

The air wing flew 1,280 combat missions, striking 588 targets, including bunkers and tanks.

Pilots endured 14 consecutive 15-hour fly days, and the entire crew had to get through 89 consecutive days at sea without a port call.

"Being around the same people all the time gets frustrating," said Seaman Raechelle Beadencup, 22, of Gilbertsville, Pa. "They start to get on your nerves, but then you work through it."

Other ships returning to Norfolk on Friday were the guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto; the guided missile destroyers USS Oscar Austin, USS Mitscher and USS Donald Cook; the destroyers USS Briscoe and USS Deyo; the guided missile frigate USS Hawes; and the oiler USNS John Lenthall.

Photos: Sailors wave to homecoming crowd
Associated Press
© May 23, 2003
Last updated: 6:40 PM

In front of a banner declaring, "We Gave 'em Freedom," Petty Officer Isiah Burns of Philadelphia waves to his wife as he arrives pierside Friday aboard the carrier Harry S. Truman. The Truman docked at Norfolk Naval Station around 12:15 p.m., becoming the first East Coast carrier to return from the Iraq war. Photo by Steve Helber / Associated Press.

Petty Officer 1st Class Shirley Barraclouga, right, of Virginia Beach waves a flag along with Petty Officer 2nd Class Dawn Degraw, center, of Long Island, N.Y., as they arrive pierside on the Truman. Photo by Steve Helber / Associated Press.

Truman sailors return a tugboat's salute to their arrival in Norfolk. Photo by Steve Helber / Associated Press.

A military police officer watches sailors disembark from the Truman. Photo by Steve Helber / Associated Press.

>>Homecoming Guide
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Photos: Rain doesn't deter waiting families
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 23, 2003
Last updated: 2:36 PM

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman makes its way past Fort Monroe in Hampton on the way to its home port at Norfolk Naval Station on Friday morning. Photo by Mike Heffner / The Virginian-Pilot.

Family and friends stand behind a security officer, left, in a steady drizzle this morning as they wait for the carrier Harry S. Truman to return to Norfolk Naval Station from serving in the war in Iraq. Photo by Steve Earley / The Virginian-Pilot.

Grandmother Lillian Reader, left, and aunt Debbie Reader, both of Maple Shade, N.J., got in the stands early with flags and flowers to wait for the return of Petty Officer 3rd Class Rob Anzidei aboard the Truman at Norfolk Naval Station. Photo by Steve Earley / The Virginian-Pilot.

Catherine Depiero of Rhode Island waits Friday morning on Pier 14 at Norfolk Naval Station for her brother, Lance Corporal Terry J. DePiero, a Marine stationed aboard the Truman. Photo by Steve Earley / The Virginian-Pilot.

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Truman's fliers land in eager arms
By KATE WILTROUT, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 23, 2003
Last updated: 9:40 AM

Cmdr. Chris Gallagher, commanding officer of VAW-126 hugs daughter Molly, left, and wife, Susan, right, as he returns to Norfolk Naval Station with the E-2C Squadron Thursday. Full slide show
Photo by Steve Earley / The Virginian-Pilot.

Video: Truman planes back from the war

VIRGINIA BEACH -- They screamed off the deck of the carrier Harry S. Truman as Gunslingers, Swordsmen and Raging Bulls.

About 100 miles later, the Navy pilots and radar intercept officers taxied home to far less fearsome nicknames: Daddy. Honey. Sweetie. Son.

Thirty-four planes from three fighter squadrons deployed aboard the Truman returned to Oceana Naval Air Station on Thursday, a prelude to today's full-scale carrier battle group homecoming. The chilly rain that smudged makeup and blotted snapshots did nothing to cool the emotion of the tarmac reunions.

They were all the sweeter because this 150-day deployment was the real thing: Truman-based planes flew 1,280 combat sorties into Iraq and destroyed 939 targets, according to the Navy.

``Oh man, look at that face,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Kimo Buckon as he peeked beneath the white blanket that shielded 8-day-old son, Aidan, from the drizzle.

Within moments Buckon, an F/A-18 Hornet pilot with the Gunslingers of Fighter Squadron 105, had 2-year-old daughter Josie in his arms. His 5- and 7-year-old sons jockeyed for access.

``She missed him the most,'' said his wife, Shawn Buckon, who gave birth to Aidan last Wednesday. ``She always wanted him to hold her and give her milk at night. That was their routine.''

It didn't take long for dad to realize the difference six months and lots of milk make on a toddler's frame: ``Pumpkin, you're getting heavy,'' Buckon told her.

Like the rest of the Raging Bulls of Fighter Squadron 37, Cmdr. Jeffrey Dodson carried red roses for his wife, Lisa.

She pretended to be offended when he stopped in mid-sentence while introducing their 5-year-old.

``That's my son, uh, Benjamin,'' Dodson said. ``I had to think of what his name was.''

Though e-mail made her husband's fourth deployment easier to bear, Dodson's duties as the commanding officer's wife meant more work.

And even though she's a veteran of homecomings, Dodson said she still found herself racing around the past week -- getting the roof fixed, cleaning the house and car, making special meals.

``You always want it to be perfect, and it never is,'' Lisa Dodson said. ``And they never notice, and you have to remember that.''

Siobhan Kehayas may learn those same lessons someday. On Thursday, though, the 25-year-old graduate student had room for nothing but thoughts of happily-ever-after.

Kehayas and her family came from New York to greet her fiance, Ryan McNamara, an F-14 pilot with the Swordsmen of Fighter Squadron 32.

McNamara's parents, grandparents and three brothers were there as well. It was a first meeting for most of the two clans, set to become family for real in August.

As McNamara's father and brothers strained to read the numbers on the jets taxiing in, Kehayas held her hands to her face.

``Oh my God,'' was all she could say as McNamara walked in from plane 114, the last to arrive. When they were a few steps apart, both broke into a run -- until they were in each other's arms.

With imprints from his helmet still circling both ears, McNamara said that he stayed focused on ``getting on deck'' during most of the flight.

After he landed came butterflies and tears, he said.

His mother and future mother-in-law stood beneath the $38 million plane he'd flown home, his name and call sign -- Cheeks -- stenciled onto the side.

``It's scary looking, isn't it?'' said Liz Kehayas.

``All the equipment just boggles me,'' said mother Christine McNamara. ``It seems like so much can go wrong.''

Reach Kate Wiltrout at 757-222-5108 or kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com

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