USS Missouri returns home to Groton
Groton — The coldest weather of the year didn't deter families from delivering a few surprises for the crew of the USS Missouri.
Third-class petty officer Daniel Martin wasn't expecting anyone to be there for him, and had decided to wait inside the boat and cover for his crewmates greeting their families when one of his friends suggested he get some air.
He didn't know that his mother, Willadean Martin, and grandmother, Elizabeth Sullivan had traveled from Texas to surprise him.
He hadn't seen his grandmother in more than a year, and Friday was her 77th birthday.
Daniel walked with his mother to the tent where his grandmother was waiting, and they all embraced.
"I got warm all of a sudden," Willadean Martin said. "The blood started rushing again."
Robert and Jill Green traveled for two days from Alabama to see their son Matthew as he returned from his second deployment, with four of their 11 children in tow.
Gianna, 11, hadn't seen him in a year and knew exactly what kind of surprise she wanted to deliver when she saw him.
"I want to hit him with a snowball," she said, over the wishes of her father. "I have sisterly love."
As they waited, much of the crowd shunned the propane heaters and coffee in the warming tent, choosing to line the road with signs in front of a snowbank, or climbing to the top of a snow mound behind a parking lot for a better view as the Missouri arrived at port.
Several had Valentine's Day plans they wanted to keep from being spoiled, or tentative ones as the crew awaited their orders.
Once the crew had finished docking and the crowd members got the go-ahead, they poured onto pier, colliding with a wave of crew members, dressed in their service dress blues and carrying roses.
They had been executing the Chief of Naval Operation's Maritime Strategy, and their commanding officer said they were the "best ambassadors" at port calls in Falsane, Scotland; Rota, Spain and Brest, France.
"I couldn't be prouder of the crew of the ship," Cmdr. Fraser Hudson said.
He estimated that around 40 of the submarine's 132 crewmembers on the Virginia-class nuclear submarine were on their first deployments, and that the boat was out at sea for about 90 percent of their mission
This was the first long deployment for Darryl Baukman, a communications officer aboard the boat, who was surprised by his twin sister and brother, Corryn and Caleb, took some time off from school in Pennsylvania to come see him.
They left for college the same week he was deployed. His mother, Alia, said while homecomings at Darryl's shorter deployments were nice, it meant more after not seeing him for so long.
"They're so young, they grow up really fast, so it's really a wonderful experience that the Navy puts on this homecoming, so they can feel loved and missed," she said.
For Molie Dietiker, who married Michael Dietiker shortly before the boat deployed and worked to plan the homecoming ceremony, the work began as soon as the Missouri departed.
"We've been planning since they left ... we're all ready for this to be done," she said.
n.lynch@theday.com
Twitter: @_nathanlynch
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