Thousands of military families and supporters gathered at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego on Thursday to welcome the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier home after a grueling 321-day deployment that included 264 consecutive days at sea without a port call—a record in modern naval history, according to the Defense Department.
The carrier left San Diego last November with an expected return in the spring, but was diverted to the Middle East after the US and Israel launched a war with Iran, extending the deployment for the roughly 5,000 sailors and marines aboard. The ship finally arrived at its home port around noon, greeted by cheers from the crowd, a live band, performers on stilts, therapy dogs, and handmade signs.
Mixed emotions and long-awaited reunions
For many families, the reunion was bittersweet. Brenda Rivas, who was five months pregnant when her husband deployed, held her seven-month-old daughter with a sign reading "I have waited 234 days to hug my daddy!" Her husband missed the birth and first saw his daughter over a video call six months later. "It's mixed emotions," Rivas said. "I'm more sad than excited because he did miss so much."
Dawn, a mother who requested only her first name be used out of fear of retaliation from military officials, watched the ship's arrival from a small town in Texas, unable to sleep as she kept her eyes "glued to the TV." Her son, a service member on the Lincoln, had sent her photos of mold dripping down walls and dwindling rations—two hard-boiled eggs, watery soap, a scoop of grits and a few limp noodles. "Like 3rd world … We couldn't get soap or toothpaste," he wrote in a WhatsApp message.
Reports of hazardous conditions and political fallout
For months, sailors reported shortages of food and basic supplies, a spate of suicide attempts, and declining morale. The US Navy confirmed last month that eight service members from the Lincoln and its accompanying strike group had attempted suicide since the start of the deployment. The reports sparked a political firestorm, with Democratic lawmakers calling for an investigation while President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to downplay the situation.
Trump told reporters this summer that the Lincoln's deployment was "not nearly long enough," a remark that changed Dawn's view of the president. "I like President Trump. I voted for him. But I don't really think he understands," she said. "Let his son be out there, just for a couple days, and see how it goes."
Looking ahead after a taxing year
Now that the Lincoln is home, sailors face immediate and longer-term adjustments. Pvt Grayden Monroe, 19, was the first military family member on the bleachers at 4am, waiting for his sister. He said the family planned to take her to dinner Thursday night, but she returns to duty Friday. Reflecting on the deployment, he said, "When shit hits the fan, everything just kind of sucks. Especially when they're out there on their own. It's really just you and the guy next to you."
For Dawn, who still says she wouldn't vote for a Democrat, the experience has shifted her outlook on Trump. "I'm just not real happy with President Trump right now. At all," she said. She plans to fly to California next week to help her son "get everything back in order" and reunite with his five-year-old daughter. "He just wants to live for his kid," she said. "He wants to see his daughter grow up."
