JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There was no shortage of hugs, kisses, and happy tears at Naval Station Mayport Sunday morning, as more than 300 sailors from the USS The Sullivans finally returned home after an 8-month deployment.
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The air was filled with the sound of ship horns and the laughter of families reuniting—moments that words can hardly capture.
For Chief Petty Officer Maurice Robins, the homecoming was particularly special.
“You cannot see the tears behind [my glasses]. It feels amazing. I am glad to be back,” Robins said as he held his 2-year-old daughter in one arm while meeting his newborn baby for the very first time.
For many sailors, this was their first deployment, which they say tested their resolve.
“You have to remember why you came into the service. There were times when it got hard to remember the why… People around you being strong and being strong for those beside you was what made it easy for me to stay strong, Lieutenant Junior Grade Nicole Diorio said in reflection.
Others, like Petty Officer First Class Taurean Wong, have been through multiple deployments, but echoed Diorio’s sentiment of togetherness.
“The value of working together with others really comes together. People come from all over the place. They have different ranks. You have to work together on a smaller ship like ours to get the job done,” Wong said.
This deployment was particularly intense for Petty Officer Second Class Litzi Damian. “I’ve never been in a situation where we had to launch multiple missiles during the nighttime, throughout the day. It is going to be one of the most memorable deployments I’ve had.”
The USS The Sullivans’ latest mission took them across the Mediterranean and Red Seas, where they conducted several missions, sometimes with as little as 48 hours’ notice. Their time at sea was extended by a month, adding to the challenge and anticipation of coming home.
Commanding Officer Mathew Rechkemmer praised his crew’s resilience and unity. “Everybody comes from a different walk of life. Everybody has been in the Navy for a different amount of years. I have folks on board who have been in the Navy for less than a year who have seen stuff that I haven’t seen in my 18 years. We are all experiencing a lot of things for the first time. We experienced it together. We boosted each other up together and we all came home together,” he said.
Now, with the deployment behind them, the sailors are looking forward to the simple joys of home. For Chief Petty Officer Robins, that means “play dates, tea parties… I’m going to have a little tea parties with my daughters.”
