CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Pearl Harbor-based USS O'Kane departed yesterday for a six-month deployment to the Middle East. Among those seeing the 350 crew members off were Nathaniel Miller, 2, above and below, who yelled "goodbye!" to dad GM2 Russell Miller at dockside and in the arms of his mom, Naomi.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
William Vasqez watched tearfully as his wife, Lindsey Vasqez-Santiago, left on the O'Kane. He was holding their daughter, Naomi.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
BJ Libby, right, performed yesterday with the Inetnon Gef Pagu Cultural Dance Ensemble at the Jefferson Hall lanai at the East-West Center. The ensemble is made up of high school students from Guam who perform native Chamorro dances. Eleven of the students are participating in a cultural exchange trip to Kauai and Oahu.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The mo-ped parking area along Chaplain Lane and Fort Street Mall next to Hawaii Pacific University was a bustling place yesterday as student Ali Knight, right, climbed onto her mo-ped to leave the campus.