On June 9 we had a Battle of Midway Commemoration ceremony onboard. Why did we wait until June 9 instead of doing it on June 5 like most of the rest of the Navy? Because on June 9 we were actually near the Midway Atoll where the battle took place. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in those waters so close to the 70th anniversary of the battle. It was spooky to think that at any moment we might be passing over a sunken carrier or the wreckage of an airplane that had been at the bottom of the ocean for 70 years.
On June 10we crossed the International Date Line going east, which meant we had to relive June 10. We referred to the two days as 10-A and 10-B. It was represented a major milestone, though, since we were now reckoning dates the same as everyone back home. 10-B turned out to be a busy day for me. In addition to work, a Hail & Farewell event, and the Bingo game, I also got sick. (I’m just now getting over it.)
I spent several days in bed taking medications. I was still feeling awful on June 13, but I forced myself to get up and enjoy that day, because that was the day that we finally made it back to the United States after 7 months overseas. We pulled into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and it was a beautiful sight. We had less than 24 hours in Pearl Harbor before we had to pull out again, so we made the most of it.
The best thing about our time in Hawaii was I got to see my dad for the first time in 7 months. On the way back from long deployments like this, Navy ships sometimes do what’s called a “Tiger Cruise” where friends and families of the sailors, called “Tigers”, can come onboard the ship and sail back to the ship’s homeport while learning about the ship and the Navy. For this cruise, my dad is my Tiger, even though I warned him that a week of sleeping in a Navy rack would probably be uncomfortable. I met my dad in the afternoon and we hung out that night in Waikiki: drinking mai tais at the Hale Koa barefoot bar, eating pork at the Hilton’s Starlight Luau, kicking back at Duke’s, and singing karaoke at the Shore Bird. We followed Navy tradition of racing back to the ship to get there just in time for curfew. The next morning we got underway, and the last leg of this long journey began.
In this week underway, my dad and I have got to spend a lot of time together, which is nice since we hardly ever see each other most of the time. The ship has had lots of demonstrations so that the civilian visitors can see the cool parts of what we do here. We got to see the inside of a Marine Corps tank, we got to see the helicopters launch rockets, and stuff like that. I volunteered that if the civilians wanted to follow me around and see my cool military job they could, but no one has taken me up on it yet. Their loss – where else are they going to get a chance to watch someone go to meetings, write emails, and make PowerPoint slides?
Yesterday did our final time change of this voyage – we are now on West Coast time. We’re running out of milestones to pass. We are so close now, I might be able to make it if I swim. I am so excited to get back. I haven’t seen Angelina, or Gabby, or my house in over 7 months. Also, my dad is going to stay in town for the weekend so we’ve got a fun weekend of activities planned, including a trip to the Fair. Being surrounded by family back in the United States, it sounds like a great dream about to come true.
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