Another deployment is over for thousands of sailors and Marines assigned to San Diego based warships.
And when you watch what happened yesterday as the crew members of the giant aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the powerful guided missile cruiser, the USS Bunker Hill sail into San Diego Bay, with the crew standing in their dress whites along the rail, it can look like an unusual event.
But those who serve in the Navy and Marines and their families, deployments to far away and dangerous places are part of their lives. And deployments and returns back to San Diego happen all year long.
And when you think of what it must be like to be away from home for 6, 7, 8 months or more at a time, doing jobs that matter that can be hard and dangerous, and to imagine what it must be like for their families, to have a father or mother not around for that long and missing family birthdays together and even births, you get an appreciation for what these men and women and their families face.
The commanding officer of the USS Roosevelt said it best after their arrival at Naval Base Coronado when he said that he and his crew could not do what they do as well as they do it without the love and support of their families and the community.
And for those of us who live in San Diego, it’s an honor to live in a community where so many thousands of people and their families honor us and protect us through their sacrifice of service.
(Photo credit Getty Images)