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Page 9 text:
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First light, Pier 1, San Diego. 27 February 1981. The ship has completed the long months of tests, inspections, train- ing and exercises that have pre- pared her for deployment to the Western Pacific. The decks are freshly painted. Equipment has been checked, re-checked and checked yet again. Stores have been brought aboard: The tanks have been topped off with fuel. A sense of anticipation hangs in the air. Last minute business is being quickly disposed of. The men and their officers have in some cases, worked around the clock in final preparation for the mornings de- parture. The mist begins to lift, and the first few well wishers ar- rive. . .
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Page 8 text:
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The Departure The scene is one repeated a dozen times throughout the year: a ship is deploying over- seas. Wives, families, friends, lovers, all saying their farewells, crowd the pier. Many are crying. wives especially. They know, down deep, that things are going to be a bit lonely for awhile. Many of the men seem awkward in the pres- ence of the tears. The traditional upbringing of most dictates a star's response. lt's not that they won't feel the loneliness, too, only that it will take longer for it to register. There are probably a number of reasons why the sailors don't really feel the separation until a few days into the deployment. The most obvi- ous is the routine: They have been on station for Sea Detail so often that exiting San Diego har- bor this time is little different from all the rest. Then there are exercises that often occur en- route to Hawaii, exercises that demand concen- tration, leaving little time for reflection. Hawaii, potentially exotic, is also familiar, enough so to dull the feelings of separation. Sailors are accustomed to being at sea, away from their loved ones for 2 or 3 weeks at a time. After a brief stop in Pearl Harbor, to refuel, to take on fresh food, and to provide the men with a short rest, the sense of separation begins to be deeply felt. lt's a long way to Guam, the next stop enroute to the Philippines: the frenetic ac- tivity preceeding the departure from San Diego, that served to mask the sailor's feelings, has given way to an awareness that they are going to be apart from those they love for what will seem like a long time. The old hands know this, know that these things have their own rhythm, their own logic, and they let the feelings come in their own time. Those that are left behind don't see this, of course. but underneath the pre-deployment pressures, the feelings are there.
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