Several US Navy squadrons assigned to a nine-month deployment intensely fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen returned to the US Friday and were greeted by loved ones running into their waiting arms.
Heart-warming video showed children in red, white and blue running into the outstretched arms of service members and a woman being picked up and spun around by a man in uniform carrying a rose for her in Virginia.
Photos showed other families waving American flags and holding patriotic “Welcome Home” signs for their heroes.
“All squadrons based at Naval Air Station Oceana that deployed with USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (@TheCVN69) to @USNavyEurope and @US5thFleet are now home,” the United States Fleet Forces Command posted on X.
The aircraft carrier had been leading the response against attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on shipping in the Indian Ocean.
The Navy aircraft carrier strike group and air wing carried out critical strikes against the rebels in Yemen to protect the military and commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
Vessels have come under repeated armed attack in and around the Red Sea and US Central Command continues to strike back.
Eisenhower sailors, with the US Air Force, led seven pre-planned strikes into Houthi-controlled territories in Yemen, according to the outlet. Pilots aboard the Ike completed thousands of aircraft launches and recoveries, according to the Navy.
Lt. Russell Hill spent months in the Red Sea aboard Carrier Air Wing 3 on his first-ever deployment and returned home to his wife, Hannah Kate, on Friday.
“I personally have been craving strange things,” Hill told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. “I want to go to the gym not in uniform. Then, I want to go into Walmart immediately after working out … All the freedoms that we have, I’ll be taking advantage of that, and then things like waking up in my own bed and having a backyard.
“There’s a lot of amazing things on the boat and some amazing people, but at the same time I’m excited to get some quality time with my wife,” he added.
“I’m waiting for my dad,” Ryleigh Hendershot told WVEC. “We are very eager to see him and the anticipation is killing us.”
“It’s so bittersweet,” Kiara Marsh, a VRC-40 crewmember, told the outlet. “I’m so happy to see my family and my friends.”
Among Friday’s arrivals were the VRC-40 and VAW-123 crews to Norfolk, Virginia and the VFA-83, VFA-131, VFA-32 and VFA-105 squadrons to Virginia Beach. Their return marked the end of their mission with the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group.
The group’s deployment was extended twice.
“I’m super proud of the men and women for responding precisely when required to defend the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” Capt. “Starvin” Marvin Scott, the commanding officer of Carrier Air Wing 3, told the Virginian-Pilot.
“When the Houthi started to escalate the conflict, [Carrier Strike Group] 2, Carrier Air Wing 3 and the Ike Strike Group, we were ready to respond,” Scott said.
The homecoming kicks off a three-day period of the carrier strike group’s return, WVEC reported. It includes four ships, nine squadrons and 6,500 sailors.
