JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Land Ho to the USS Jason Dunham, as its sailors touched land Sunday morning for the first time in nine months, serving as an emotional reunion for loved ones and sailors alike.
“This is amazing to see our baby. Just [to] hug him and love him after only having FaceTime for so long,” said Lauren Habiak on Sunday after embracing her loved one once again.
“That was wonderful. So my brothers and sisters are here, my step mom is here, really really glad to see them,” added Chief Petty Officer Paige Gibson. “It was just, it was a sigh of relief.”
While the sailors Action News Jax spoke to Sunday morning said it certainly wasn’t easy, they did say the mission and the honor of serving their countries overseas made it all worthwhile.
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The sailors on board the USS Jason Dunham spent nine months sailing through Europe and the Middle East. The deployment began in Fall 2024, when they departed as part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group. In that time, the sailors conducted exercises with our NATO allies and combat operations in the Red Sea.
“That’s always the best thing that you could possibly fall back on. It’s the pride of what we do,” said FCA2 Cranston. “That’s why we do what we do, because we have pride in our country, we have a pride in each other, we have our pride in people back home. So the communication back home and faith in the mission is the number one thing.”
Now these sailors get to enjoy some much-needed quality time with their loved ones before heading out on their next voyage at sea.
“Our next deployment, we don’t know yet. We think it will probably be in a year or two,” explained Aaron Jefferson III, the commanding officer of the USS Jason Dunham. “So we’re just going to go into our sustainment phase. We’re going to start training. We’ll start maintaining the ship and getting ready for our next task.”
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