THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250365
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 79 lines
The crowd waiting for the dock landing ship Portland's arrival Wednesday may have been only a fraction as big as the one at the Norfolk piers the day before, when most of the Navy's George Washington Battle Group returned from six months at sea.
But families and friends at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base were no less enthusiastic.
They turned out waving tiny American flags, posters, signs and their hands as the Portland and three other ships of the Guam Amphibious Ready Group ended a six-month cruise to a couple of the world's biggest trouble spots - the waters off the former Yugoslavia and Liberia.
Their sailors stood on deck, waving tissue-wrapped roses back.
``I can rest now,'' said Tina Rogers of Fredericksburg, handing her husband, Ken, their 2-month-old son, DeAndre, for the first time.
``I'm ready to take over these duties,'' the Portland petty officer said with confidence. Then, when his son began to cry, he looked to Tina. ``What works?''
``He looks thinner, but he looks good,'' Mary Bach of Pennsylvania said of her son, Ensign Jonathan Bach, as she waved to him from the pier with his father, three sisters and girlfriend.
The ensign, on his first deployment, had lost 40 pounds aboard the Portland in the equatorial heat off Liberia.
``He's very fortunate,'' Mary Bach said. ``He has a big family and lots of friends - he said he always got the most letters during mail call.''
Three of the amphibious ready group's ships arrived on time Wednesday morning - the Portland at Little Creek, and the helicopter amphibious assault ship Guam and amphibious transport dock Trenton at the Norfolk Naval Station.
A fourth, the dock landing ship Tortuga, arrived five hours late, thanks to problems it encountered unloading Marines and equipment in Morehead City, N.C.
The arrivals marked a busy, far-flung deployment for the group, which began its cruise with the George Washington flotilla but split off in the spring.
In April, the Portland, along with the Guam, Trenton and Conolly, and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C., were sent to the coast of Liberia in support of ``Operation Assured Response.''
They were called to the West African nation after fighting erupted in early April during Liberia's 6-year-old civil war. Their primary mission: to protect the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, and to help evacuate Americans and foreigners threatened by the war.
The side trip lasted more than 10 weeks, until it was time for the battle group to start its trip home.
While the ships sat at anchor, broiling in the heat, their families waited at home. Wives and husbands pined. Children grew. Infants learned to walk.
It took Sandra Ashton four nights to prepare a huge sign welcoming her husband, Petty Officer 1st Class Jay Ashton. Painted on a bedsheet, it was decorated with the handprints of the couple's three children.
Tiffany, 9, Kayla, 4, and - most of all - Steven, 9 months, had changed a lot since Dad left six months ago. Baby Steven ``couldn't do anything'' then, Sandra said, and now he squirmed to escape her arms.
``I just tried to keep going,'' said Sandra, whose husband had not yet seen her with braces on her teeth. ``We had car problems and the house flooded and I had to make a 911 call when the baby had an allergic reaction to an egg.''
The Portland started easing into Pier 17 about 8 a.m. Eager families waited outside the gate barring them from their loved ones until all the ship's lines were secured an hour or so later.
By 10 a.m., most of the ship, the pier and the parking lot were empty. The only people left on the pier were a handful of women who didn't get the word about the Tortuga's delay, and some exhausted sailors trying to keep stainless steel dispensers of juice and Kool-Aid cold until 2 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK color photos, The Virginian-Pilot
Petty Officer Ken Rogers hugs DeAndre, his 2-month-old son, for the
first time Wednesday at Little Creek. His wife, Tina, said ``I can
rest now,'' as her husband's six months at sea ended.
Ken Gimlin, petty officer 2nd class, hugs his daughter Emily as his
wife, Tina, watches. Gimlin saw Emily when she was born, then
shipped out for a long tour off Africa and in the Mediterranean.
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY HOMECOMING GEORGE WASHINGTON BATTLE
GROUP by CNB