Cayuga (LST 1186) - Naval Cruise Book

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- F liJtWVff ' n !■ I - uian jm M-if jmr— jj PACIFIC STARS AND STRIPES ' Lost ARG ' back in RP after 1 months at sea By Susan Kreifels Stripes PMCTMrws Bureau Chief SUBIC BAY NAVAL STATION, Philippines — The raiders of the lost ARG found a heroes ' welcome here after months of feeling forgot- ten. The 5,000 Marines and s».ilors of the Commander Amphibious Group 5, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, will have been aboard ship 10 months by the time they return to San Diego, making them the longest deployed Navy and Marine unit in the war with Iraq. However, the Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) has had little press at- tention. The group ' s special opera- tions capability for missions such as evacuations and rescues rather than direct front al attacks lended to the low profile. The Navy Times ' list of ships in the Persian Gulf forgot the five ves- sels of the COMPHIBGRU 5 and troops have designed a Lost ARG patch. Although they said they ' re not the glory guys, the lack of attention is a sensitive issue with them. But on Sunday they were not for- gotten The Navy Band from Guam, majorettes from a local school, yel- low ribbons and balloons, and about 300 people with American flags and banners of love and gratitude greet- ed the Okinawa, Ogden, Cayuga, Durham and Fort McHenry. THE BUNKER HILL, forward de- ployed at Yokosuka, Japan, also sailed into Subic Bay Sunday from the Gulf. While the carrie Ranger returned to San Diego at Christmas, the ARG turned around at Subic Bay and headed back for the Gulf Dec. 26. They ' ve not touched land since. it ' s been a very long journey, said Capt. Tom McClelland, com- mander of the group. I am really proud of these guys because they did a tremendous job Although th amphibious landing was never executed, the group ' s most important mission was just being there as a deterrent off Ku- wait, McClelland said. Our key presence was what real- ly made the difference. We kept his (Saddam ' s) troops bottled up against the coastline of Kuwait against an amphibious assault that was going to occur at any time THE IRAQIS expected that landing. Helicopters from the Okinawa flew a deception mission, or feint, after the ground war started to keep the other side ' s attention. McClelland said their bipgest ac- complishment was taking the Iraqi- held island of Faylaka and 1,400 pris- oners of war. Petty Officer 1st Class Howard Smith was greeted with a bunch of roses from his 4-year-old daughter Yvonne and wife Maria plus a glass of Mother of All Beer on d ' Pier. Welcome home daddy, I love you, Yvonne told her dad. I just can ' t describe il, Smith said about seeing his family. You see it (homecomings) a lot on TV but you don ' t know what it ' s like. Crystal Lowman drew attention from the press with her short desert camouflage dress and Welcome Back James sign. When she found Cpl. James Dennison of Washington, D X ' . , the couple was surrounded by Philippine news photographers with requests of Just one more kiss, James, just one more kiss. 1 was embarrassed, Dennisnii said. It wasn ' t really much of a war, not that I ' m complainine