Coming Home
		Seattle Times reporter Rachel Tuinstra boarded the Everett-based aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in Hawaii and will report from the ship as it makes its way back home. Responses and suggestions are welcomed. E-mail Rachel Tuinstra

May 07, 2003

Epilogue

I was just one of the more than 2,660 people aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln yesterday when it arrived home in Everett. I felt a little of what the crew must have been feeling as I stood on the flight deck while the ship eased its way into Port Gardner Bay, the crowds cheering, the private boats escorting us it, the vintage planes flying overhead. I could see why coming home is such an overwhelming experience. On my last night on the Lincoln I had trouble sleeping, albeit not for lack of exhaustion. "You've got 'channel fever,' " Master Chief Petty Officer John Barnett told me. Channel fever, in case you don't know, is something sailors get during the last few nights of a long voyage. It's the excitement and anxiety over returning home. You know you're about to transition from living below decks, surrounded by cold, gray steel, pungent fumes and loud noises. You know you're almost home. But there is something awe-inspiring and calming about watching the orange sun slip below an endless horizon of water from the Lincoln's bridge. There is something comforting in the way the ship rocks you to sleep at night. And then the ship docks and you are thrust back into the life you left behind. It can feel a little jarring. It was great to come home and not worry about wearing flip-flops in the shower, choosing what time I eat, what my dinner selection will be and just enjoying the quiet of my own apartment. I'm not a sailor, but I was lucky enough to spend 10 days and nine nights with those aboard the Lincoln, long enough to appreciate how hard these men and women work. It was an experience I will never forget.

Posted by Rachel Tuinstra at 05:15 PM

May 06, 2003

Almost home

The USS Abraham Lincoln’s long-awaited return to Puget Sound brought out a flotilla of dozens of private boats, many bearing the American flag. A Seattle fireboat shot fountains of water into the air. Joining the flotilla were several Coast Guard patrol ships. The Lincoln’s crew, many of whom could hardly sleep last night, watched intently as the ship plied through the familiar waters. The end of their nearly 10-month deployment was at hand. Gov. Gary Locke and Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel arrived aboard the Lincoln by helicopter at about 6:20 a.m. Locke addressed the crew at 9 a.m., telling the sailors that the he was declaring May 6 as “USS Abraham Lincoln Day.” It is a homecoming the crew has earned twice, he said. “I look out at so many faces, faces that paint a portrait of patriotism,” he said. “I can only appreciate how difficult this has been. You have all been profoundly missed.” The crew cheered loudly and began to assemble to go to the top of the flight deck, where they will man the rails as the ship pulls into Naval Station Everett.

Posted by Rachel Tuinstra at 08:49 AM

May 05, 2003

Hold the muster, please

A makeshift basketball court has been set up in the middle of the hangar bay, a spot where multi-million-dollar jets were being repaired just a few days earlier. Sailors who haven't bounced a ball in 10 months are getting their "ups" back. A rock-climbing wall has been built nearby and the crew has been taking turns heaving themselves to the top. They’re beginning to relax a little as they get ready for tomorrow's homecoming in Everett. But last night we got a taste of why you can never let down your guard while a ship is underway. At about 10 p.m. Capt. Kendall Card announced we were doing a shipwide muster, requiring that everyone on board report in and be accounted for. A chemical light had been spotted in the ocean near the Lincoln, and there was a concern that someone might have fallen overboard. People in nightclothes filed down from their berths and staterooms to check in. The crew all mustered within about 20 minutes. However, we journalists weren't as efficient. Most of us — me included — filtered down to the main hangar bay within a few minutes after hearing the announcement. But 35 minutes later, some media still hadn't found their way to the main level or to a phone to check in. The crew was getting restless. Heck, the journalists were getting restless; we're not used to being told to stay put. The missing parties were finally found, and no one was lost at sea. Although perhaps some of the crew wanted to throw us overboard. Capt. Card and the executive officer came down to personally scold us for our inability to muster in a timely manner. Yeah, yeah, it's the same thing our editors complain about, too.

Posted by Rachel Tuinstra at 04:31 PM

May 02, 2003

Shore leave at last

The female sailors in my berthing unit were all atwitter last night. Everyone is usually so exhausted they fall asleep quickly. But last night, everyone was talking and laughing; soon we'd be in San Diego and if they weren't getting off for good, they were at least getting a day of shore leave. Some were trying on civilian clothes for the first time in months, anxiously examining themselves in the scratched-up mirrors in the head, or bathroom. "I haven't put on these kinds of clothes in a long time. My body just looks different to me now," one woman said to me. I assured her she looked fine. Others were packing their belongings into big duffel bags; some flipping through fashion magazines, looking at the latest styles they will soon be able to wear. Even I was excited as I finally drifted off to sleep. After five days on this ship, I was thrilled at the idea of standing on solid ground again. I just wanted to walk outside without fear of slipping on jet fuel -- which I've already done once this trip -- or ducking through narrow passageways, or opening and closing heavy-handled doors. I wanted to eat food that wasn’t made in portions for 300. This morning, as I walked through the main hangar deck, it was hours yet until the 9 a.m. docking. But sailors dressed in their summer whites where already staking out their place in line to get off the ship. Many were sitting on deck, leaning up on their duffel bags, their covers, or sailor hats, pushed over their eyes as they caught a few minutes of rest. I looked out the open doors of the hangar, watching port grow closer, and felt the anticipation of it all. What wonderful relief it was to see land after days of endless blue sea. I can’t imagine what a nearly 10-month deployment was like.

Posted by Rachel Tuinstra at 02:38 PM

May 01, 2003

The president's arrival

Sitting in the co-pilot’s seat of an S-3B Viking jet, President Bush buzzed the USS Abraham Lincoln minutes before pilot Cmdr. John “Skip” Lussier landed the snub-nosed plane on the flight deck. In a moment, Bush climbed out of the aircraft wearing a green flight suit, a broad smile on his face. A bell was rung eight times and “United States arriving” was announced over the ship’s intercom. Bush made his way down the “Rainbow Side Boys,” a line of flight-deck crewmembers in uniforms of various colors. Rear Adm. John Kelly, flanked by Capt. Kendall Card and Air Wing Cmdr. Kevin Albright, saluted as Bush approached. The president spent at least 15 minutes shaking hands and exchanging smiles and words with the flight deck crew. A crush of airmen surrounded him. “He (Bush) was all like, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Winston Baton, one of the first to greet the president. “He looked happy. I know what a rush it is to land on an aircraft carrier. He had to catch his breath for a minute and pause before he came over.” Lussier said Bush, who flew fighter jets in the Air National Guard, took the control of the Viking for about 15 minutes. “I think it was nice for him to have a stick again,” Lussier said. “I think it all came back to him.” Wearing a “float coat” vest with “Commander-in-Chief” stenciled on the back, Bush toured the flight deck and watched as F/A-18 Hornets were launched on catapults. He posed for numerous pictures with the flight-deck crew, whose yellow, red, green and purple uniforms were grungy and stained from the exhaust of numerous flight operations over the past 10 months.

Posted by Rachel Tuinstra at 03:34 PM

	October 2005
	S M T W T F S             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

	RECENT ENTRIES
	Epilogue Almost home Hold the muster, please Shore leave at last The president's arrival A meal fit for a president