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thedrifter
03-12-06, 06:06 AM
Smooth sailing for families
Sailors separated from family and friends for months come back to thoughts of pancakes, pizza and Pampers.

BY STEPHANIE HEINATZ AND JIM HODGES
247-7821

March 12 2006

NORFOLK -- When the USS Theodore Roosevelt passed by the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel on Saturday, coming into sight for the first time in more than six months for the thousands of family members gathered at Naval Station Norfolk, it was barely 7:30 a.m.

Cheers welled from the crowd. Men pulled children up to their shoulders for a better view. And well-dressed wives jumped up and down, their welcome home signs held high for the small chance their sailor could see them waiting.

Curt Coucill stood at the top of a set of bleachers.

His bright blue banner - a whopping 7-feet-tall - towered above the crowd. A small mermaid was applied to its corner. The writing - Welcome Home Jessi! We Love you! - was bold.

Of the hundreds of homemade posters waving around Pier 14, Coucill's stood out the most.

That was just the way Coucill and his wife, Beverly, wanted it.

Their daughter, Chief Petty Officer Jessica Boise, knew they'd be waiting on the pier.

"But we want her to be able to find us quickly," Curt said. "We want her to know we're here."

When Boise deployed to the Middle East in early September alongside the 7,500 aboard the Roosevelt and its escort ships, it marked her first cruise since 2000.

Her last deployment was aboard the USS Cole, which was attacked by suicide bombers in Yemen.

"She was a little tentative at first," Curt said. "She lost some friends that day."

While Boise didn't talk much about what she was doing while on the Roosevelt, Beverly said her 30-year-old daughter was "proud to do what they did. She loves the Navy."

Rear Adm. Sandy Winnefeld described what the strike force did at a press conference shortly after the first sailor left the ship:

Responded to piracy.

Provided security at oil terminals.

Protected soldiers and Marines on the ground in Iraq.

Late last year, for example, fighter jets from the carrier hit specific targets in support of Operation Steel Curtain - an offensive meant to keep terrorists from entering Iraq through Syria. "The sailors are proud of the fact that we saved Marines' lives," said the Roosevelt's commander, Capt. J.R. Haley. "These guys understood why we were over there."

Also memorable, Winnefeld pointed out, was that the Roosevelt will forever be the platform from which the F-14 Tomcat flew its final combat mission before retiring Friday.

The Tomcat, soon to be replaced by the F/A-18 Super Hornet, had a homecoming of its own on Friday along with the majority of the air wing. The Roosevelt's escort ships began returning earlier in the week. The Roosevelt was the last to pull pier-side. For some, reuniting with families wasn't the only highlight of the return.

With wives and sweethearts looking on the pier and with teary-eyed mothers and button-busting fathers waiting, a young sailor's mind turns to "IHOP," said William Smith of Pasadena, Md. "A couple of buddies and I are taking our families to IHOP."

The reason?

"Over (in the Middle East), you can get McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, but you can't get IHOP. And nothing says America better than IHOP."

That's International House of Pancakes. Smith and his friends can be a bit more cosmopolitan than that. "Yeah, we hear you can get good Mexican food at a place called El Azteca," he said. "We miss Mexican food. They didn't have Taco Bell over there either."

Seaman Kyle Rechart also had food on the brain. He'd called his parents in Geneva, Ohio, to let them know he was coming in but then going right back out to his duty station in Whidby Island, Wash. "I said I might only be able to see them for an hour," he said. "My mother said, 'I don't care if it's five minutes, we're coming.' "

So they made the eight-hour drive, and when Rechart got to the pier, it was with good news: "The flight to Whidby Island is delayed until 5 o'clock, so we've got all day."

Or at least long enough to satisfy his craving for pizza. "They've got it on the ship," he said, "and it looks like pizza, but it sure doesn't taste like pizza."

Negative comments about ship food rolled right off Seaman Ben Boutwell's back. Saturday, the Navy cook wanted the soft scent of his new daughter. He was one of the Roosevelt's 72 sailors who became fathers during the deployment.

The distinction allowed him to be among the first to exit the ship. When he did, his wife, Crystal, was waiting with 4-month-old Jade. Boutwell cradled Jade gently and kissed her forehead. Then he took in a deep breath, his nose near her cheek. "It's so shocking, so surprising to come home to a 4-month-old," he said, smiling. "But at least I'm home."

Ellie