USS Constellation returns to San Diego from war in Iraq

By SETH HETTENA
Associated Press Writer

CORONADO, Calif. (AP) The USS Constellation sailed home for the last time Monday, bringing 5,000 sailors and Marines back from the war in Iraq.

Family members who hadn't seen their loved ones in seven months whooped for joy as the aircraft carrier came into view at the end of a seven-month voyage, the last before the 41-year-old warship is to be decomissioned in August.

Matt Acacio stepped off the USS Constellation and held his 5-month-old daughter for the first time.

``I'm glad she's not crying. That's what I was most worried about,'' said the 25-year-old sailor, one of 106 crewmembers who became fathers during the Constellation's trip to the Persian Gulf.

Thousands of anxious family members began arriving before dawn at the wharf at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado.

Cheryl Reister of Henderson, Nev., was there to greet son Robert Postelwait, 21, who works on the carrier deck and loads bombs onto fighter jets.

``I'm anxious to get him home,'' she said. ``Get his feet back on U.S. soil.''

During its 21st and final voyage, the aircraft carrier provided some of the firepower that helped bomb Iraqi forces into submission. Constellation pilots dropped more than 1.2 million pounds of ordnance onto targets that included Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces.

``It was historic,'' said Rear Adm. Barry Costello, who commanded the Constellation's six-ship battle group. ``The young men and women on board the carrier did an incredible job to liberate a country.''

No lives were lost on the Constellation. A Navy S-3 Viking slid off the deck after landing April 1, but the plane's two pilots ejected and were rescued at sea.

``We brought everybody home and you can't underestimate the importance of that,'' said Cmdr. Ted Koehler, a Constellation safety officer.

Koehler walked off the ship, bearing half of a cardboard sign in the shape of a heart. His wife, Lori, held the other half.

``You leave part of you behind,'' he said. ``It's a broken existence for a while.''

Under a gray morning sky, a carnival atmosphere permeated the piers in the hours before the aircraft carrier arrived, including booths promoting automobiles, a casino and flowers. The famous Budweiser Clydesdales showed off the beermaker's red wagon.

Navy Cmdr. Dave Koontz, a Navy spokesman, was once a Constellation sailor and he was dockside to welcome the ship home for the last time.

``It's very emotional. I spent two years of my life on this ship. Since I got off the ship I've always considered it a home,'' Koontz said.

Across San Diego Bay, the city's mayor led a downtown rally to celebrate the return of the Constellation and its support ships. Lance Cpl. Josh Gracin, a Camp Pendleton-based Marine and finalist on TV's ``American Idol,'' sang ``God Bless the USA.''

It's not quite the fanfare that marked the May 2 return of the USS Abraham Lincoln, the last aircraft carrier to pass through San Diego Bay. President Bush rode a S-3 Viking onto the carrier and addressed the nation from its deck.

But the Constellation has hosted presidents in the past, including Ronald Reagan, who dubbed the carrier ``America's flagship.'' The ship was the first to launch airstrikes against bases in North Vietnam in 1964.

With the decommissioning of the Constellation, the brand-new, $4.5 billion USS Ronald Reagan will take its place next year.

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On the Net:

USS Constellation: www.navy.mil/homepages/cv64/

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)