 love you all right now if you could talk to him right now and uh let's say that the camera is him what would you say welcome home james i've missed you the kids have missed you i love you and we're very proud of you hey officer ailes back to you oh it's fine welcome back hi how are you ma'am what's your name um my name is kathy porns i'm from philadelphia well welcome to navel station norfolk and why are you coming here all the way from philadelphia um here to looks like he's home turn around check it out there it is the uss harry s truman is piercide ladies and gentlemen it's been a lot nine months how excited are you i'm ready to do the happy dance and uh who is your son mathew barnes and what do you know his rate in the navy what does he do on the ship third class petty officer third class so is this his first major deployment yes and they've been gone for nine months have you been able to communicate with your son uh email uh occasional phone call i follow the facebook page very nice um do you know of any interesting ports that they got to see over the last nine months oh yeah i saw it posted on facebook and you know i follow navy for mom so we all communicate with each other fantastic um how long has he been in the navy um it'll be three years in may three years how old is he uh he's 25 25 years old how did you feel when he told you he had joined the navy ma'am i was very proud i have an older son that also was in the navy so um yeah he wanted to follow his brother's footsteps fantastic how uh how long was his older brother in the navy uh he only did four years and he was stationed in san diego and this son currently is he thinking about making a career of the united states navy one of the first things you're going to do once we get your boy off the ship well i have to wait in line because his wife will be first and big hug and like yeah and tears lots of tears and hugs looking forward to it well it looks like they're going to be getting off the ship soon so thank you very much thank you thank you for being here and showing your support we appreciate it well ladies and gentlemen as you can see the uss harry s truman is piercide so am i on or not and we're on the ship tt to okay all right sure what uh what does your dad do on the ship aviation mechanic yes thank you welcome back if you're just tuning in this is the navy live broadcast of the uss harry s truman's homecoming and as you can see the ship is here and we've got a lot of excited family and friends standing by as we wait on our sailors to debark the ship it's interesting to note that while deployed truman has traveled nearly 42 000 nautical miles in nine months and unloaded 2.8 million pounds of ordinance in support of operation enduring freedom along with truman uss san jacinto uss bulkley and uss basin departed norfolk and uss gettysburg departed mayport florida july 22 the five ships and airwings supported operation enduring freedom conducted maritime security operations and supported theater security cooperation efforts in the fifth and sixth fleet area of responsibility the carrier strike group provided a wide range of flexible capabilities including expeditionary power projection for naval presence crisis response sea control and counter terrorism navy leaders recognize that adjusting carrier deployment schedules has operational and personal impacts such as training cycle adjustments crew and family uncertainty and some reductions to quality of life port visits navy leaders remain mindful of these impacts even as we maintain a primary focus on mission requirements for combatant commanders our sailors are dedicated professionals and show great resiliency during times of unexpected change they continue to remain focused on accomplishing their mission in support of presidential and combatant commander objectives the harry s truman strike group took part in joint fleet synthetic training scenarios and a composite training unit exercise prior to deploying to confirm joint operating procedures were correct and ready to work closely with military services of our neighbors and allies as the navy works with global partners to protect the maritime freedom that is the basis for global prosperity we're going to check in with petty officer mandello shortly standing by with more family and friends as we welcome home the uss harry s truman right here at naval station norfolk mandello over to you francis oliver oh all right now where are you coming from miss francis from norwalk california oh boy but that was quite a drive it was a fly flew here it was a long flight how's the weather over there nice and warm oh man can you take me back with you sure you might fit in my bag now that i've emptied it okay i can try it's prt season i've lost a few all right now uh who are you waiting for my son robin black okay now what does uh what does miss black do on the ship um he's a electronic technician nuclear electronic electronic technician okay all right how um almost five years i think oh wow well no he got on the ship when it first came into or when they first did the nuclear we did the nuclear okay what is that for almost five years i think are you excited to see him i haven't seen him in almost four years since 2010 you're a good mom thank you for coming out and seeing him today oh absolutely thank you thank you guys for bringing him home now uh yeah now it's uh it's almost that time he's it's almost off the ship but uh what are you gonna say to him when you see him i'm just gonna go big husband hug and kiss and you can take him out to dinner tonight i believe we all are now we all are where are you going um my future daughter-in-law oh no they left me my future daughter-in-law his dad is here uh oh there they are uh his daughters his future mother-in-law uh oh wow okay so the whole family came out to see him that's great well they're from here so oh okay that helps a lot that yeah it's great mom you can just look into the camera as if you were talking to him what would you like to say robin i have missed you so much and i am so glad you're coming home thank you very much and welcome back i'm standing by right now with some more family and friends from the uss area just true man hello how are you i'm good how are you i'm doing great and your name ma'am melissa marshal and who are you here to see today my baby boy george whoo who else do we have here today father and grandma got it all right how excited are you guys today to see you're very up at home all right that is awesome what are you guys's plans as soon as we get him off what's the first thing you guys are going to do today yes whatever he wants to do and how long is george here been in the united states navy he's been in a year and a half so this is probably his first major deployment deployment yes and uh how was communication while he was awesome it was awesome um was it mainly email email some some text through facebook and would you say he enjoyed his time out to see i do he wants to move to spain he likes spain the best fantastic spain yeah that's very nice move there he turned 21 so he well he was away so he was having a good time i bet i bet he did that is awesome awesome sorry we were all right so they're gonna be getting off the ship soon how excited on a scale of one to ten are you guys 12 20 thank you all very much i appreciate it all right and i appreciate your support thanks for coming out officer chelsea mandel and this man what's your name team of barns all right who are you here for ps2 ps1 barns now mr i've known him since he was 17 we were married and we're going on 19 years he was stationed in spain this will be the first time in four years i get to spend with him oh man so you're very excited to see him oh stoked congratulations by the way 19 years yes that's fantastic yes we knew what we signed up for but this is awesome four years finally getting to live together yes there you go how do you enjoy spain we loved it oh it was beautiful you got to stay you had a condo on the beach awesome rose spain awesome a little warmer what's just awesome billet all the way around yeah it's a bit cold here no i don't want to be in illinois they got snow last night i'm good when you finally see your sailor which the time is almost here what are you gonna say to him i love you he's gonna take him out tonight oh i'm taking him yes taking him out i love you honey it's been four years in the making and i couldn't imagine my life with anybody else even though it's 17 i loved you i love you more now than i ever loved you before thank you leave leave leave and it's interesting to note as we wait on truman sailors to get off the ship uh during her supportive operation and during freedom she participated in 26 underway replenishments at sea and had the opportunity to visit eight different ports she unloaded more than 8 000 pallets of supplies and her crew consumed more than 12 million dollars worth of food of the five galleys on board more than 690 000 corn dogs 200 000 hamburgers and 150 000 pieces were served to her crew so it's safe to say that her crew was well fed to burn off some of the calories nearly 2 000 exercise classes were conducted on board and more than 240 000 miles were ran on the ship's treadmills truman and her sailors are going to be getting off the ship soon so please stand by thank you again for joining us for the navy live broadcast of the uss truman's homecoming and truman sailors are very excited to be home today as well as family and friends we're going to be interviewing people live in the audience and we'll be back to you shortly after this nikita yang and stephanie barbora cooper i'm here to see canny et3 yang and kawai at2 barbora cooper you put a lot of work into these signs too they look great i did this like three o'clock in the morning yes i worked very hard for a whole night on the side okay now where are you two coming from to see your sailors i got nine moments yeah i'm excited i'm excited and when he could call yes it was a pretty it was a pretty good deployment he was able to call often so i was really happy about that okay good all right and you're excited to see some of those photos of his adventures and have some gifts yes i'm waiting for all my gifts so baby yes i am yes i i expect something can you both tell me a little bit about your sailors well he's this is actually his last tour with the truman he's going to be leaving to go down to florida uh we're going to Jacksonville yes um so this is it goodbye to the truman so long been great but gotta go you're goodbye i'm hello we just got here our shore duty this is our second sea duty so and second time with the um with the hawkeye he's with hawkeye so yes we're just beginning this yeah but so far so good all right now uh now both of you could look into the camera and as imagine that you're both talking to your sailor what would you say okay i'll go hey kubar i've missed you can't wait to see you love you hello rashad it's been a long long long nine months can't wait to hold you kiss you i miss you so much and see you when you get off there you go some excited family members and friends here today ready officer ails back to you and i'm standing by now with karen hamilton hello karen how are you today hi i'm excited i'll bet you are and who are you here to see today my son brandon turley and where are you coming from karen columbus ohio all right go buck eyes yes good job okay fantastic and uh how old is your son he is 21 today and he's expecting a second child zolton any day his due date was yesterday good timing so son hasn't been born yet nope not yet we're hoping we can get home in time that is awesome that is great congratulations can i say hi everybody in columbus please do hi everybody love you guys we'll be home soon i'm bringing brandon that's great um how long has he been in the navy now um he graduated a year ago today from paris island and then he went to north um pentacle of florida for training and then he ended up on the ship so this is his first major deployment yes hopefully there's no more and uh were you able to communicate with him over the last nine months um a little bit here and there just basically on facebook but not too much so i'm very excited he said he's gonna come try to wave but i may have missed it he'll be here in a few more minutes okay uh what are like what's the first thing you guys plan on doing once we get him off the ship we're running to the car and flying home we want to get there before the baby gets here and is his wife in the hospital now not yet not yet she's she said she's gonna walk a lot today okay so the baby could be coming anytime soon yeah hi steven and brandon everybody at home i'm here make me cry well i'm just as excited and happy for you and i'm really glad that you could make it out today why do you feel it's important for you to be here to show your support oh my gosh it's an honor to be here for everybody on this ship not just my son what they do on a daily basis what the families go through i never ever imagined what they went through until now i'm doing it and thank you to everybody who serves out there all the families the support i mean the time um god bless you every one of thank you so much thank you congratulations again thank you for joining us all right thank you for what you do thank you we just moved from florida so i drove from florida all the way here cold just like here winter decided to come back oh man you brought the cold weather up with you didn't you yeah probably that's all my fault thanks thanks a lot for that you're welcome i'm 20 years old i am a student at chorea university i am trained to be a physical therapist and i'm married to a navy sailor his name's trevor um i do believe he's an abh yes he does well he's a dork he's pretty much a he's pretty much a child and an adult's body he's a dallas cowboy's freak and he's just he's just cute i guess it's just the way you could put it how did you meet trevor uh we actually met in high school uh we went to four walton beach high school in florida from nevada to florida to here oh yeah i was an air force kid so but now that he's done this deployment he's he's happy for him he's proud okay good okay so he's not he's not the black sheep of the family no no he's not he he fits into my weird family pretty well okay yeah every day that we can yes river city is the worst because you never know what's going on and just it ruins everything hard for a sailor honestly oh yeah no i wouldn't i wouldn't miss a day talking to that boy yes i do he's everything i know that they hit france and uh by rain and i think they stopped in spain but i'm not sure where else they've been i think they had to keep that to themselves have you seen any photos no he took our camera and didn't take any photos so the camera was a waste they're not work related i'm excited i'm actually excited just to have him home yes i'm just i'm ready to snuggle with someone and have somebody clean the house other than me uh yes we're gonna go to davin busters and then tomorrow we leave for myrtle beach i don't know if it's warmer i think it's still cold but i'll take you with me i can't get away from it it's just everywhere no it's nice and hot now it's freezing we'll leave so i believe he is first sleep so he'll get two weeks off and then he'll go back to work and i'll be all by myself again you're gonna show him a good time in the meantime yes we're good i'm gonna keep him busy there's no sleeping for him not really i don't i don't really think he knows much about it i mean he might now but he didn't when we first got here so i'm pretty sure i'll learn more okay was this his first deployment though yes this was a long one oh yeah we were married for three months and then he left for nine so congratulations though thank you a pretty big ship it is i've been inside and i feel like i could get lost in seconds oh yeah no i'm pretty sure after nine months it probably has a funky smell to it oh yeah so once they air it out maybe i'll go back on all those men on that ship no yeah it's probably a little here somewhere but trying to find them is like finding a needle in a haystack there's only a few thousand people here so i'm sure it wouldn't be hard and they all kind of look alike so cry so hard not to cry but i probably will and i love you and i'm so glad that you're home arkansas well we took up we came from los angeles area me and my wife you drove all day yesterday and we just happened to be here to see the sailors come in we miss them a lot okay it's quite a good sight isn't it yeah it's beautiful who are you visiting we're coming to see my daughter Cheryl love her and miss her very much your granddaughter Cheryl Salinas she just got married oh really her husband's in the navy also he's also out on the ship right now you're welcome thank you very much thank you so much now i do know i believe so yeah but we couldn't find her she's well i know that's what she said yeah she said she'd been white yeah that's what she said okay we should be pretty easy to find her i know thank you very much welcome back all the sailors thank you for your service thank you so much appreciate it officer chelsea mandello richard leitenberger okay clifton pain my son christopher pain all right my grandson your grandson yeah the last time i was on a carrie was in 1952 a couple of years ago yeah so we're a navy family oh yeah we're in the military no no are you pretty proud of your son i'm very proud of him yes yeah he's doing a great job he says this is the best thing he's ever done all right well that's fantastic and i agree with him that's yeah what is it that uh that your son does for the navy it yeah he's in the it yeah throughout the deployment he's been getting hold of us whenever he can you know it's hard for him to do it but yep he's actually trying to get a hold of us now telling us where he is and where he's going to be coming off of so i know he went to um spain uh bayran uh dubai that's the three i can remember so he's been around pretty good he's saw more of the world than i have there you go and you're you're excited to hear about his adventures oh i can't wait we got a nine and a half ride home nine and a half hour ride home so we'll hear all about it it was all right it was snowing when we left we was 18 degrees and three inches snow on the ground so this is an improvement this is nice this is like a summer day summer day i wish i had that hi christopher i'm very proud of you love you and i can't wait to see you both of us the same thing i just can't wait to see him thank you so much appreciate it absolutely thank you thank you the members who are out here to uh say uh virginia beach yeah virginia beach oh okay so it's a pretty blown drive yeah super far to traffic yeah okay uh vangie steven my micy sharilyn all right let's do for the ship it's an atc natc it's better it's not that long who likes deployment and he seemed like he enjoyed it but he was ready to be home okay i'm just speaking to him we we waited for your husband and your dad is over there we're looking for you we're here in the room we miss you so much i'm uncle uncle uncle yeah she is an it yes i do oh yes she handles the computers and internet and all of that okay so she she should always have email to talk to you guys always yes very consistent all right yeah we've been fortunate yes yes she's definitely got the right job to talk to you perfect big pretty much pretty consistently yeah i've been pretty pretty very pleased about that can you uh can you tell me some reports that she visited oh absolutely uh spring to buy oh and friends that's some great boxes oh yeah a goodie box okay let me try to visit so are you expecting some really good no she's been sending them as she's been purchasing i think she's the one waiting on the good gifts exactly she's missed a few things yeah is she gonna get some oh yeah yeah we have some surprises for her yeah are you taking her out tonight whatever she wants to do she may want to just be in the room and have a shower by herself yeah so whatever she wants take off those shower shoes exactly exactly and she loves crab legs oh yeah wait a minute you're telling me that you've got a sailor who loves crab legs and seafood loves yeah all right so you're gonna take her out to see if we're going to play where are you guys coming from we're from the uh Dalas Texas oh okay how's the drive we're happy that you're back amber uh um uh that your whole crew is back safely uh god bless we miss and love you and can't wait way to hug you baby. Thank you so much. I'm here to see A.T.A.N. O.Hannison. What's your name? I'm A.Z.A.A. Hater. I'm from the Eisenhower right now. He's my brother. I got to see him for a couple weeks when I got here and then he was already off and going on deployment. Maybe two weeks within a past year and a half. Have you gotten to talk to him a lot? I got to talk to him a little bit. Only so much he can though. Especially with all other people he has to talk to. So you're a Navy family? Yeah, a Navy family. There's two of us and then his other half is here also. She's on the Eisenhower as well. No kidding. So we're all stationed here. Oh yeah. And you know who always wins. That's right. That's a good thing. Is this his first deployment? This was his first deployment. So yeah hopefully when he comes back he'll be here for a little while. Do you know if he liked it? Yeah it's an experience but he did like it. So I miss him a lot. I can't wait. What were some of the ports that he visited? I know he's been firing a few times. I'm not sure about Europe wise but I'm mostly firing and they stop there all the time. You're just excited to see him, aren't you? I am. I'm excited. If you could look into the camera and say, bro I miss you I can't wait to see you and we're gonna have a wild time when you get back. Definitely. Well thank you so much. Appreciate it. Take care. Yeah me too. So what's your name? Theresa. Okay. Well, Theresa where are you coming from? Well I'm stationed out here because I'm also in the Navy and I came to meet my sister. Oh yeah. Okay so your sister's in the Navy as well? Yes. We both came in a couple months apart. Okay sir. Navy family? Kind of. We're starting the tradition. Was this your sister's first deployment? Yes it was. Okay what did she do for the ship? She's deck department so she's one of the ones out there mooring the lines right now. Oh yeah. Okay have you tried to find her yet? Well obviously not. She's not gonna be anywhere near. Want it? Yes. Yes I did. I emailed with her almost every day or whenever she had time. When she gets off the ship where are you gonna take her out tonight? Well I'm gonna take her out for lunch and then we're gonna go out for dinner and she wants to go to the ma and do a couple things. Yeah no she's a girl so thank you. Very appreciate it. Thank you for your service. Maria Rice? Okay. Talk to you in a minute. David Rice? And Michael. From Naples, Florida. Warm. In the mid 80s. Did you buy your jackets here? We brought a lot of jackets and we brought a lot of jackets. So you expected it to be cold? Yeah we expected it to be cold but not this cold. Are you excited to see your sailor? Oh we are so happy. We have been waiting for this day for nine months. Oh yeah I don't blame him. Did you get to talk to him at all while he was in deployment? Yes whenever he came to a chore then he made an effort to call us. Yes. I like the sign. Where did you have the sign made? In Florida. In Naples. It's beautiful. Wonderful. He's in the dusty darks. He's a helicopter pilot. Are you ready to see here some of his adventures? Are we ready to see what? We are very excited to hear about all his adventures. Yes, yes. Do you know some of the ports that he visited? Yes. He visited Spain. Didn't he visit France? France. Bahrain. Dubai. He had quite a good time. He had a good time. All right well good. All right well I tell you what if you could look into the camera right now and talk to him what would you say? We love you Joseph. We are so happy to have you back in town to be able to hug you because you have been in our hearts and in our minds for all these days all these months and we have been missing you but we are thanks God for bringing you back home. Great to have you back Joseph. I have you back. Love you man. Virginia. Storm to you. I'll wait this year. Yes. Yes. Yes. She was pleased to come down here with the weather. She was like always nice and warm and what she got here realized it's not warm. It's like no it's cold. I got speeches on that one. Tell me when you come to see. I'm coming to see my dad. I don't know his rank but it's Davis. I don't need nothing. Do y'all know what he does for the ship? Yes. Okay. He's a personnel man. What is it? It's a bigger ship. There's nothing on the ship that they're holding it down. I'm proud of y'all guys. They did a wonderful job. Thank you for coming on and supporting him today especially. Now I have a question if you could look into the camera and talk to him right now what would you say? I miss you. I'm glad you're home. Yes. Daddy I miss you so so much. I'm just I'm so ready for you to get off the ship. I'm hype. Welcome home. All right. All right. Allie I love you. I'm happy to see you home and the city of brotherly love. Thank you. All right. You're getting her. Outstanding. How you doing? Wonderful. Can you tell me your name? Lieutenant Junior Grade Broward Marin. You guys got Mason and Cole and my lovely wife Allie. All right. You guys excited and happy to have them back. So how does it feel to be on land? It's outstanding to be back home on land. Good to see my little guys. They've all grown up so definitely gonna be a nice time. All right. How was the deployment for you? Deployment was great. Nine months. It was long but it was worth it. We had a good time. I'm glad to be back. Okay. What ports did you hit? We hit Bahrain and and Javali a lot and then we hit Marseille, France and we hit Palma, Spain. And you brought back lots of gifts for these guys. Lots of gifts. Lots of fun. Lots of good stories to tell. All right. You all are gonna take them out and show them a good time tonight. Yeah. Lizards first. There we go. Okay. How about you guys? You excited to have your dad back? Appreciate it. Have fun. Take care. I'm standing by now with Petty Officer Charles. Let me be the first to say welcome back shipmate. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. How does it feel to be home? It feels so glad. I'm so happy to be back home as words can't even describe. And who are you? I'm his wife. I'm Tasha. It's my brand new wife Tasha Hamilton. We're like married less than a year. Yes. Congratulations. Welcome back. Just sum it up in a few words. How was the deployment? It was amazing. It was amazing. Everything that we did out there was well worth it and we're just glad we could support our country. Fantastic. How do you feel now that you're home? Super excited. Super happy. Super glad. Just so happy to be home right now. What's next for you guys? What's the what are you guys doing today? Oh, go home. Just go home. Oh yes. And how happy are you to have him back? I'm ecstatic. I saw him when he first came off there and I was running through the crowd. That is awesome. Welcome back shipmate and thank you very much for your employment. Appreciate it. Glad to have you back. Thank you. Thank you. I'm Petty Officer Chelsea Mandela and I'm here with the sailor who just returned home from the Chuman. What's your name? Brad Shepard. All right. How was the deployment? Oh, it was long. Really long. Too long. You happy to be back? Oh, feels best fun in the world. Who's your family and friends here? I got my son. He was born out here. Jake, mother son, Slade. Okay. Beautiful wife Marissa. My wife. I mean, my mom, my brother, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandma. Oh man. So the whole family is here to see you. Yes. All right. Well, thank you guys for supporting him. Are you glad to have him back? Whoo. Yes. Yeah. You're gonna take him out for a good time tonight, right? Yeah. Oh, it was long. Yeah. She's glad to be home. Yeah, did you bring home some good gifts? Oh, yes. Plenty of them. Since we get home and unpack them. Nice. Thank you so much for coming out and supporting your Taylor. Thank you. I'm proud to be a boy. Officer Chelsea Mandela for the Truman Return to Home Corps. Petty Officer Ells and Petty Officer Chelsea Mandela. And we interviewed this wonderful woman. Happy to see him. Yes. Absolutely. And how about you, Taylor? What's your name? I'm AT2 Barbara Cooper. Okay. How was the deployment? The AW126. It was really long. It was extremely long, but we're back. And I am extremely excited to get home and see my family and play with my kids. Oh, the above. Good. From what I understand, she's got a great night's plan for you. I hope so. How was deployment for you, though? It was good. We went a couple places, saw a couple things, saw some new people, ate some new foods. Okay. And you brought gifts back for her? Yes. Okay. Good. All right. And how about you? Did you cry? You said you weren't gonna cry. No. I'm not gonna cry. It took me a long time to do my makeup and I'm trying not to. I'm happy, though, so. Welcome home. Thank you.