NORFOLK, Va. — USS Harry S. Truman pulled into Naval Station Norfolk on Tuesday. It was the last ship of the Truman Carrier Strike Group to return after spending nearly seven months at sea.
“My favorite day in the Navy is coming home day," said USS Harry S. Truman Captain Kavon Hakimzadeh.
The Truman left Norfolk in November 2019 to conduct maritime operations in the 2nd, 5th and 6th fleet of operations.
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the strike group was forced to remain at sea in the western Atlantic since April and sailors continued training while waiting.
“I’d say our nation and our taxpayers certainly got their money’s worth out of Harry S Truman," said Captain Hakimzadeh.
Navy officials said that because no one on the ship had a confirmed case of Coronavirus, and the ship didn't make port stops after February, sailors got to walk to the pier as soon as it docked. Loved ones waited in cars to pick up their family members and friends, out of 5,000 servicemen and women.
Carrier Strike Group 8, Read Admiral Ryan Scholl said “The battle group, not just a carrier and the air wing, but all of the battlegroups stayed COVID-free and remain COVID-free as a ready asset for a nation.”
The Truman helped support global security around the world. The ship even responding to international tension, which later included dealing with an unarmed Iranian drone flew "directly over" the Truman in January, in the Persian Gulf.
Captain Hakimzadeh said, “on the maritime side the response stayed very muted I think we were very successful at that.”
USS Normandy and USS Forrest Sherman returned on June 5. Those vessels deployed on Sept. 19, 2019.
Florida-based USS Lassen and USS Farragut, which also are part of the Truman Carrier Strike Group, made it back to homeport at Naval Station Mayport earlier this month.
This deployment began with defending the country overseas and ended with the military members waiting close to home, knowing loved ones had to manage an ongoing pandemic.
Captain Hakimzadeh said, “Our families are the real heroes of this deployment. That’s the thing that really hits home when you realize that they were out on the front lines of this virus on the front lines of this pandemic.”
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