JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Hundreds of families shared a warm embrace Tuesday morning in a Naval Station Mayport homecoming, as the USS Mason returned to its home base following a nine-month deployment.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) was deployed in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Mediterranean Sea to support "freedom of navigation efforts and the free flow of global commerce," according to Naval Station Mayport Public Affairs Officer David Holmes.
Here's a list of what the USS Mason and sailors aboard did during its deployment, according to Holmes:
- Destroyed Houthi-launched weapons including land attack cruise missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles and unmanned systems
- Conducted defensive strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, destroying 22 targets
- Destroyed five Iranian-launched medium-range ballistic missiles
- Responsible for 46 UAV kills, including 22 that were executed during the single largest multi-axis and multi-threat engagement by the Houthis
Also during the ship's deployment, a sailor identified as Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesola, 34, died after a "non-combat related incident," the Department of Defense said in a statement shared with First Coast News. While the department said the incident is under investigation, the U.S. Central Command said Aregbesola was reported missing at sea while conducting operations in the Red Sea on the USS Mason.
The sea whistle from the USS Mason is Gwen Evans' favorite noise. For the past 20 years, she’s been listening for the same sound to signal that her son is back home.
"He left high school and came right here to boot camp. [Twenty years later] he made chief here and then made senior chief right after," Evans told First Coast News.
Evans' son, Senior Chief Jimmy MacMullin teamed up with hundreds of other seamen for their Red Sea mission — destroying weapons and systems created by the Houthis, an Islamic military and political group out of Yemen, in areas with limited service to talk to his family at home.
"We only have email. Whenever he's able to get signal or get a word out and we can have phone calls when he docks overseas," said Shramanie Shannon, MacMullin's aunt.
Although he’s been overseas, MacMullin has been inspiring his family back home to join the service.
"I want to help other people who can’t help themselves," said JaHair Evans, MacMullin's nephew.
And after the homecoming, MacMullin's family says the hug from him was all worth the wait.