Teary Goodbys as Navy Ship Leaves for Gulf : Deployment: Submarine tender McKee departs San Diego as emotional friends and families of 1,500 crew members look on.
On a bright, clear Friday morning, amid the tears and goodbys of hundreds of people, the submarine tender McKee headed out from the shores of Point Loma to the uncertainty of the North Arabian Sea.
Gilbert W. Marsh and his wife, Beatrice, came from El Paso, Tex., to see their son, Richard, sail away, becoming an active member of Operation Desert Storm.
Petty Officer Richard J. Marsh, 30, was on board the McKee, the first vessel to leave San Diego since the beginning of the Persian Gulf War. Marsh’s parents wore leather bombing jackets and looked dismayed.
“I’m frustrated,†Gilbert Marsh said. “If we go over there, we have to go and finish it . . . “
As his voice trailed off, he kicked a small stone. Marsh said he fears “another Vietnam†and the grim sight of his son and others coming home in body bags.
“In World War II, we fought, and we won that war,†said Marsh, a retired Army master sergeant who fought in both “the Big One†and the Korean War. “All I ask is for these boys to be treated right when they come back.â€
San Diego was rife Friday with the feelings of war. While thousands of people sat glued to television sets in office buildings, homes and restaurants, where people talked of little else, friends and loved ones of the crew fortified themselves emotionally. The tearful hugs and kisses that everyone dreaded but expected had arrived.
Moments before the McKee left the sanctuary of its San Diego mooring, the destroyer O’Brien returned under a veil of tight security to its berth at the 32nd Street Naval Station.
Because of the fear of terrorism, the O’Brien’s return was declared “off limits†to the press and public late Thursday, a Navy communications officer said Friday. Security also was tight at the submarine base gate at the end of Rosecrans Street, where relatives congregated and hoped. With luck, they said, the McKee will be back in six months.
Navy Lt. Susan Haeg said the McKee was not due for deployment until weeks from now, but a new schedule forced it into action. Although designated a submarine tender, its repair shops and machine fabrication department are “capable of repairing all types of Navy ships,†Haeg said.
“So, it’s deploying as a repair platform for whatever unit might need assistance,†she added.
Of the ship’s 1,500 crew members, 350 are women, and 40% of the ship’s roster is married, with families in San Diego, Haeg said.
Those on board Friday morning leaned on the ship’s railing. Some smiled and waved; others only looked sad. A few of the crew gathered near the top of the ship, panning the crowd with video cameras.
Their lenses would have captured Marsh, hands in his pockets, looking sad and cold on a gorgeous, sun-splashed day. His wife, Beatrice, shook her head, crying softly.
Only a month ago, the couple said goodby to Steven Johnson, their 21-year-old grandson, now deployed in the Persian Gulf as a Navy medic.
“This is all just a bad dream,†Beatrice said. “I just hope and pray that God gets somebody straight, because this is all about greed. Greed! Someone wants what the other guy has.
“I just hope the good Lord takes a hand. . . . I’m worried about the chemical thing. I hope they don’t use it. What if they do, and then they come back and they aren’t themselves?â€
Liese Edington, 21, a native of Lovington, N.M., had come to say goodby to her husband, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charles Edington, 22, one of those on board the McKee, one of two tenders based at the Point Loma Substation.
“I’m a little scared,†Liese Edington said, tears streaming down her face. “But he’s on a boat, so he isn’t in as much danger as the others.â€
Kim Bodeker, 28, was suffering from mixed feelings. Although courting a sense of sadness over goodbys to dozens of friends, Bodeker was thankful for having been spared her own role on board the McKee.
She is 12 weeks pregnant.
“I’m pretty thankful for this,†Bodeker said, patting her stomach.
Bodeker’s sense of relief may be short-lived. As a 10-year veteran of the Navy, she said deployment may commence after the baby is born.
Navy officials said Friday that 10 of the McKee’s female crew members had been reassigned because of pregnancies. If deployed, Bodeker has made other arrangements.
“My husband’s cousin will come and stay and help take care of the kids,†she said with a sigh.
Standing next to Bodeker was her friend, Heidi Sosa, who was waving goodby to her husband, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jim Sosa.
“I love you! Take care of yourself!†she shouted as the McKee steamed off.
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