Sailors greeted with tears and cheers as USS Cole returns to home port ahead of Christmas

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Hundreds of sailors and their loved ones got an early Christmas present when the USS Cole docked at its home port in Norfolk, Virginia, after seven months at sea. The ship was greeted at Naval Station Norfolk on Monday with cheering from a crowd bundled in coats and blankets. They shed tears of gratitude and shared long embraces as sailors hugged beaming children. Some held flower bouquets and signs bearing family members' names and photos. "Welcome home," one read. "We are so proud of you." The USS Cole, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, deployed for 224 days to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Gulf, providing protection and defense to U.S. allies and partners in Europe and Africa, according to a press release from the U.S. Fleet Forces Command. A crowd welcomes home the USS Cole as it pulls into pier five at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va. on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, as it returns home from an over seven-month deployment. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)Fire Controlman Second Class Caleb Smith kisses his wife, Eden Smith, as part of the ceremonial first kiss after disembarking from the USS Cole at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va. on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, following an over seven-month deployment. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)Electrician's Mate Chief Petty Officer Katelyn Siewert holds her 2-month old daughter Daniella for the first time ever after returning home from a deployment aboard the USS Cole at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va. on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. Daniella was carried by Katelyn's wife Melissa via IVF and she was born while Katelyn was deployed. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)The USS Cole as it pulls into pier five at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va. on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, as it returns home from an over seven-month deployment. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)A crowd welcomes home the USS Cole as it pulls into pier five at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va. on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, as it returns home from an over seven-month deployment. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)Dorothy Taylor and Natisha Lucas spot their sailor, Operations Specialist Corddric Walton, as they wait for him to disembark from the USS Cole at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va. on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, following an over seven-month deployment. Dorothy and Natisha came up from Houston to welcome their sailor home from his first deployment for the holidays. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, families wait for sailors to depart the USS Cole, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024 after returning to Naval station Norfolk, V.a., after a deployment. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Mark Peña/U.S. Navy via AP)In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Garion Pequeno reunites with his family after departing the USS Cole on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024 at Naval station Norfolk, Va., after a deployment. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Mark Peña/U.S. Navy via AP)In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, The USS Cole (DDG 67) returns to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., after a deployment on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Nathan T. Beard/U.S. Navy via AP) USS Cole Cmdr. Matthew Faulkenberry said it's not often that a ship returns to its home right before the holidays. "No one expects it — our return homeport so close to Christmas," he told WVEC-TV. "So back just in time." The USS Cole was attacked in 2000 by boat-borne al-Qaida suicide bombers during a refueling stop in Yemen's port city of Aden, killing 17 on board.