Friday, March 14, 2008

USS George Washington Is Back in Port

It has been well over five years since my son, a Navy officer, has been at sea. But his latest deployment has given him the opportunity to get his sea legs back under him. The aircraft carrier USS George Washington has undergone a complete overhaul and just completed her shakedown cruise. For the past few weeks Scott has, as he put it, "got his butt kicked" with very long days and high seas. Through the miracle of text messaging I now know the ship is back in port, or at least within cell phone range, because I received a message of 2 important words --- "I'm home!" That was over 3 hours ago and no further contact. I'm guessing he is already home, in bed and sound asleep. That sailor is out of reach for at least the next 24 hours!

It is interesting that the homepage for the website of the "GW" has phone numbers to directly contact the quarter deck of the ship. When Scott did have a minute to call, a Norfolk, VA area code showed in caller ID and the connection was better than some I've had calling locally!

Of course I always enjoy the emails he sends --- with pictures! I'm just in awe of the aircraft carriers, especially when shown with the whole battle group. Add an Atlantic thunderstorm and you've got pictorial power! Check these out:






Welcome home, Scott!

2 comments:

Baba said...

Hi Barb, Welcome your son Scott back home ...Give him a hug and a pat on the back for a job well done...we love our Navy men.... proud to be an American and free in this land of ours from his service to our country.

carmilevy said...

Thank you for sharing the perspective of a Navy mom. I confess that I visit the Navy's Eye on the Fleet page every day to see what new images are being uploaded from across the fleet.

It's inspiring to see how much good the Navy returns to all people of the world, how it steps in when all hope is lost in regions that the rest of the world has forgotten.

You have every reason to be so proud of him. I know I would be if my child chose to follow a similar path.