Sailors back from double duty in Gulf
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
A tough thing happened to the USS Reuben James when the Pearl Harbor-based guided missile frigate was headed for home port last December: The ship received orders to return to the Persian Gulf, to add service in Operation Iraqi Freedom to the months it had spent there in Operation Enduring Freedom.
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Families here got the news a few days later, just as they were celebrating New Year's Eve.
Family members at Hospital Point get an early peek at the USS Reuben James as it cruises into Pearl Harbor. After the warship passed by, the families were bused to the dock to greet its crew, just back from the war in Iraq.
"It was 30 minutes after midnight when I got an e-mail from my husband, and one from the Navy, saying they weren't coming home after all," said Julie Ebarb, wife of the James' training officer, George Ebarb.
"And I thought, 'What am I going to tell our 6-year-old?' "
In the end, Julie Ebarb told daughter Jill Caroline "the Navy has some extra work for Daddy to do."
George Ebarb returned to his family, and the frigate to Pearl Harbor, yesterday, for a joyous homecoming after conducting one of the longest deployments in the past 30 years.
Two SH-60B Sea Hawk helicopters and 25 personnel from Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 37 came back with the Reuben James, flying from the frigate's deck yesterday morning, headed home to Marine Corps Base Hawai'i.
The ship deployed Aug. 2, 2002, for a six-month cruise, but came back three months later than planned.
"It was the hardest thing for the officers to ask the guys to go back," George Ebarb said, "but the admiral came down and told them they were needed because they were the best. They knew they were going back for a reason, and everyone kind of bonded."
"I'd do anything for these guys," said Cmdr. Edward Lester, captain of the Reuben James. "They did everything I ever asked of them, and more, and never disappointed me, and I asked them to do a lot of hard things."
It was all hula dancer Mika Kamanao could do to keep her bare feet moving on the steaming hot asphalt of the pier, but she was bound and determined to welcome the warriors properly. "Get Hawaiian feet anyway," said Kamanao, who raced for a pair of slippers as soon as the music stopped.
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A dungaree-clad sailor with Elvis sideburns guided the driver of a Lorain LRT 445 crane lowering the 32-foot gangplank into place, and Theresa Turner, who won first kiss rights in a raffle, went aboard to plant a huge smooch on the face of husband Petty Officer James Turner.
Ronald Garcia gets a lei and a big hug from his daughter Rafelyn, 9, as wife Fely and other daughter Braelyn, 3, wait their turn. Garcia is a crew member aboard the USS Reuben James.
"I'm really relieved," Theresa Turner said. "I'm just always proud of my husband, and it's good to see him home."
Then some 250 sailors streamed off the ship into waiting arms of screaming and weeping wives and sweethearts. Five of the crew met babies who had been born while they were gone.
"The baby is everything I hoped for, and more," said Lt. j.g. Chris Streng, looking into the big blue eyes of 10-week old Lauren as mother Kristi looked on. "As we came toward the pier, I could see Kristi, and I could see my daughter Madelelynn walking, which I had never seen before, and I could see Lauren," he said.
"It wasn't enjoyable for us to not come home when we planned, but we had a mission to do, and we did it, and now we get to reap the benefits," he said.
Browny Finley, who has no children of her own, rounded up a half-dozen from the neighborhood to help welcome home her husband, Bosun's Mate Petty Officer Calvin Finley, known as "Findawg" to the youngsters.
Lisa Cook of Lakewood, Calif., said she spent $1,200 to bring her daughter Katie, 18, and niece Avery, 15 months, to Hawai'i to welcome son Petty Officer Adam Cook, a 21-year-old "surface warfare specialist," back to the United States, "so he'd better be here."
"Which one is he?" she asked Katie. "The one in the white," Katie kidded, pointing to a line of about 150 men in spotless uniforms.
"You worry every day that they are at war," Lisa Cook said. "The Navy is so powerful, but there is always the risk."
"No crying now, Mom," Katie said.
"No crying? Then it's time for me to leave," Lisa Cook said, taking her son in her arms.
Mary Anhalt, 5, whose father serves on another ship, was one of the first to see the Reuben James return yesterday. She took one look at the rust-streaked ship steaming around Hospital Point at 1 p.m. and said, "That one has been fighting a war."
Then she turned to her mother and asked about her own father's extended deployment. "What does Daddy do?" she asked.
Her mother said, "He saves the world, remember?"
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
