JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The USS Jason Dunham returned home Sunday to Naval Station Mayport after a nine-month deployment.
After being gone since September 2024, nearly 700 people from all over the country welcomed over 300 sailors.
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The guided-missile destroyer completed a wide range of missions, sailing through Europe and the Middle East.
Lauren Habiak had to wait over a year to see her husband, Chris, but the lieutenant finally got to hold their son in his arms.
“This is amazing,” Habiak said as she greeted her husband. “[We’ve had to] facetime for so long.”
For some families, fathers got to meet their children for the first time. Franklin met his son Franklin III, who was born in March.
“Definitely a struggle...happy to have him back,” Graciela Delgadillo said of her husband.
The past nine months for USS Jason Durham consisted of working with NATO allies and combat operations in the Red Sea, which included being a part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group.
Commanding Officer Aaron Jefferson III said they anticipate the next deployment to be within the next one or two years, but they will be training and maintaining the ship in the meantime.
