[ WAR IN IRAQ ]
PETTY OFFICER IVAN KEALOHA
Two EA-6B Prowlers flew over the USS Abraham Lincoln during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Homeward Bound
After four months in the Persian Gulf for Operation Iraqi Freedom, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its ships will stop in Pearl Harbor this weekend en route to their home port in Everett, Wash. Meanwhile, the USS Crommelin arrived here yesterday after months in Central American waters.
GREGG KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Petty Officer Vicki Guist, left, won the raffle for the "first kiss" with her husband, Petty Officer Tony Guist, when the USS Crommelin docked at Pearl Harbor yesterday. She greeted him with a lei of handcuffs since her husband is the Crommelin's lone law enforcement officer.
Isle warships due
home from GulfLincoln battle group sailors
say by e-mail they are eager
to log some relaxation timeFormer Maui Community College student Jerry Teneza said Operation Iraqi Freedom was worth the effort, even if it meant spending nine months at sea aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com"I'm really proud to be a part of this ... I can tell the next generation that I've participated in liberating the Iraqis," he said via e-mail.
"I hope someday when Iraq is stable, they will appreciate what we've done."
All of the island residents contacted by the Star-Bulletin by e-mail say they are looking forward to this weekend's homecoming when the Lincoln and several warships in its battle group will stop at Pearl Harbor on their way home to Everett Naval Station in Washington.
The flotilla includes the destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, the nuclear submarine USS Cheyenne and the frigate USS Reuben James, all based at Pearl Harbor. The Cheyenne left Pearl on July 31 while the Paul Hamilton and the Reuben James left on Aug. 2.
On New Year's Day, the Lincoln battle group was on its way home after a liberty stop in Australia when its orders were changed and the carrier headed back to the Persian Gulf as talk of war against Iraq increased.
This weekend more than 7,000 sailors will take shore leave in Honolulu, some of them for first time since the start of the new year.
Ivan Kealoha, who has made the Lincoln his home for the past four years, said the first thing he plans to do after the carrier docks at Pearl Harbor is "to go to Tamashiro Fish Market and get me some poi and poke to bring back with me to Hilo."
"I'm looking forward to arriving to a hometown welcome at Hilo Airport with family and friends and some of my old school running mates," said Kealoha, a 1987 Waiakea High School graduate.
Merari Estrada, who graduated from Baldwin High School two years ago, said that although he was constantly surrounded by water while serving on the 1,092-foot Lincoln, "I could never go swimming."
"I miss the beach," said Estrada, who was raised on Maui. "I plan to fly to Maui for a day so that I can see my family and spend some time away from the ship."
Another Lincoln sailor, William Higgins, said it's the beach he misses the most. "What I want to do most is go to the beach and catch some sun and hit the waves."
Among the first of the Lincoln battle group to return to Pearl Harbor tomorrow will be the Cheyenne, skippered by Cmdr. Charles Doty. The Los Angeles-class sub was part of the U.S. first strike force that launched 40 cruise missiles at Iraq on March 19.
The Lincoln was the first to deploy with the Navy's newest strike fighter, the F/A-18 Super Hornets.
For 17 days in the U.S.-led Iraqi offensive, Lincoln's air wing flew more than 1,500 combat sorties.
For some, the homecoming activities began yesterday when 200 sailors of the frigate USS Crommelin returned from a deployment in waters near Central America and the Caribbean, where it helped recover 1.7 tons of cocaine worth more than $140 million.
The frigate, commanded by Cmdr. Bruce Stewart, also rescued 174 Ecuadorians from a leaky vessel. The drug interdiction mission was described by Stewart as being the first for a Hawaii-based frigate.
"It was an important mission in America's continuing global war on terrorism," Stewart told reporters, noting that there is a link between the illicit narcotics drug trafficking which supports the efforts of terrorists.
Percy Caparas acknowledged that the Crommelin's deployment wasn't stressful for her because she knew her husband, Petty Officer Alexander Caparas, wasn't anywhere near the Persian Gulf.
"I didn't worry as much this time," she said.
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