
DATE: Thursday, November 27, 1997           TAG: 9711270660

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A13  EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: ABOARD THE GEORGE WASHINGTON      LENGTH:   72 lines

GOBBLE! GOBBLE!: TURKEY DAY COMES TO SHIPS IN THE MED AND THE GULF

Paper turkeys. Baked turkeys. Processed turkey rolls. For 5,000 Americans on Iraq duty aboard the Norfolk-based George Washington, the military was leaving no yam unmarshmallowed in its quest to create Thanksgiving at sea.

Warrant Officer Charles Wharton said Wednesday the aircraft carrier had turkey by the ton - 1,500 pounds of whole birds and 1,400 pounds of turkey roll - for the crew, rushed from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf with the onset of the latest Iraq crisis.

The carrier kitchen was stocked with comparable amounts of soup, potatoes, candied yams, green beans, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

Scattered throughout the 97,000-ton carrier Wednesday were paper turkeys bearing the wish, ``Happy Thanksgiving.''

Still, despite the food and props, it won't seem like a holiday without friends and family, said Wharton, 32, of Norfolk.

He said he would miss spending the day with his wife Sarah and children Andrew, 10, and Kathleen, 6.

``I miss my family very much,'' he said. ``It kind of hurts that they will get up tomorrow and I will not be there to be with them.''

The crew of the Bremerton, Wash.-based Nimitz, also in the gulf, will be a bit luckier.

Capt. Lindell ``Yank'' Rutherford, commanding officer of the George Washington, said the Nimitz was en route for a port call at Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.

Jebel Ali is 60 miles northeast of the Emirates' capital, Abu Dhabi.

The Nimitz - in the gulf since Oct. 12 - would be in port for three to four days.

The Norfolk-based amphibious assault ship Guam, meanwhile, will celebrate Thanksgiving in port at Haifa, Israel.

The United States hurried the George Washington to the gulf last week as part of the buildup over a dispute with Iraq on U.N. weapons inspections.

On Wednesday, the George Washington was about 100 miles southeast of Iraq - a distance its F-14 and F-18 fighter jets can cover in about a half-hour.

Rutherford said he expected just 52 sorties Wednesday, down from as many as 125 on previous days.

That was because the carrier had been busy loading food and other cargo from a supply ship, he said.

Thanksgiving Day was to open with a religious service for the sailors and pilots.

The crew could then spend part of the day reading mail - because of the holidays, daily mail service to the carrier has gone from its average of 3,000 pounds a day to about 10,000.

A number of sailors were sending their holiday greetings via e-mail.

And there were long lines at pay phones, where a $20 phone card buys a 20-minute call home.

Chief Petty Officer Susan Barnum, 39, of Virginia Beach set sail with the George Washington for the gulf just six days after she married her husband, Ron.

As Thanksgiving approaches, she said, ``I miss my husband very, very much.

Barnum, a data manager for Tomahawk missiles, said she was ``a little worried'' about what Iraq might do.

``My husband is more worried,'' she said, adding, ``He said he was going to pray for me.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photos

From left in the top photo, Mess Specialists Bryan Hosler, Izeal

Vanburen, Geovany Catuy and Napoleon Miranda prepare Thanksgiving

dinner on board the Guam. The Norfolk-based amphibious assault ship

Guam is celebrating Thanksgiving in port at Haifa, Israel. At

bottom, Mess Specialist Edwin Suarez of New York City prepares a

Thanksgiving feast Wednesday aboard the Norfolk-based carrier George

Washington in the Persian Gulf. Scattered throughout the 97,000-ton

carrier Wednesday were paper turkeys bearing the wish ``Happy

Thanksgiving.''