THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 13, 1995 TAG: 9509130422
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
The Navy did a nice thing for two of its own recently, reuniting a Virginia Beach father and son thousands of miles from home in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
Fred Colston, the supply officer aboard the Military Sealift Command ship Kanawha, and his son, Jajuan Jemison, 18, an airman aboard the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge, hadn't seen one another since December.
``I thought I might be able to see him before he left on his deployment, but I didn't get back to Norfolk until the 25th of March,'' Colston told Ensign Amy Derrick, the public affairs officer aboard the Kearsarge.
``I missed seeing him by three days.''
Derrick relayed their story back to Norfolk last week.
Jemison, she said, shipped out March 22 with the 14-ship Theodore Roosevelt battle group and has been plying the Mediterranean since, responding to crises in Bosnia, the Middle East and elsewhere. He's scheduled to be home Sept. 21.
Colston, a Merchant Marine officer serving aboard an oiler that has no permanent homeport, sails back and forth to the Med so much it seems like a commuter run. He won't be home until sometime this winter.
Because both sailors' schedules overlapped so badly, there was little hope either would see the other for a full year.
``I probably wasn't going to see him again until this coming December because of his schedule,'' said Jemison. ``A lot of people get to call home and talk to their family, but I can't do that when he is out working in the same big ocean I'm in.''
The Kanawha relieved another oiler, the Leroy Grumman, earlier this summer to become the fuel station and grocery store for the Mediterranean's 6th Fleet. The Kearsarge was just one of more than two dozen ships roaming thousands of miles of the Med.
``We refuel ships all the time, but I never thought that I would get a chance to supply the Kearsarge,'' said Colston. ``If we did, I figured I would just be able to wave at him from the fantail, or maybe run into him during a port visit.''
It was Lt. Cmdr. Brian Horsley, the Kearsarge's assistant supply officer, who discovered the connection between the father and son and proposed a family reunion.
``I thought, what a perfect opportunity to get two people together and do something special, something different, that would mean so much to Jemison and his father as well as the crew,'' said Horsley.
``When opportunities like this open themselves up for the taking, you have to reach out and grab them,'' he said.
As the two ships drew close for the replenishment, hauling refueling hoses aboard and flying helicopters back and forth with supplies, Jemison was allowed to jump aboard one of the Kearsarge's search and rescue helicopters for a quick hop to his father's ship.
The reunion was complete, albeit brief.
``I can't thank the (search and rescue) detachment enough for flying my son over here,'' said Colston. ``This is a big ocean that separates a lot of families. For me to see my son, to hug him and talk face to face, I can't find the words to express how that makes me feel.''
For Jemison, the feeling was the same.
``It has made my cruise,'' he said. ``I'm just happy I got to see my dad. I've enjoyed the cruise so far, seeing the different ports and all, but this is something I will never forget. I'm glad the ship worked it out for me.''
Nice job, Navy. by CNB