NORFOLK, Va. — Hundreds of sailors and their loved ones got an early Christmas present when the USS Cole docked at its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, after seven months at sea .
The ship was greeted at Naval Station Norfolk on Monday with cheering from a crowd bundled in coats and blankets. They shed tears of gratitude and shared long embraces as sailors hugged beaming children. Some held flower bouquets and signs bearing family members’ names and photos.
“Welcome home,” one read. “We are so proud of you.”
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Mark Peña/APThe USS Cole, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, deployed for 224 days to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Gulf, providing protection and defense to U.S. allies and partners in Europe and Africa, according to a press release from the U.S. Fleet Forces Command.