{"id":63288,"date":"2025-07-13T22:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T22:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/63288\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T22:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T22:12:11","slug":"just-indescribable-loved-ones-celebrate-the-return-of-uss-the-sullivans-at-naval-station-mayport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/63288\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Just indescribable\u2019: Loved ones celebrate the return of USS The Sullivans at Naval Station Mayport"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 An emotional reunion Sunday morning at the Naval Station Mayport, as the \u201cUSS The Sullivans\u201d made its return to land after helping with combat operations in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean for eight and a half months.<\/p>\n

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFinally having him back, it\u2019s just indescribable,\u201d said proud mother Tiffany Blackshear Sunday morning, arm around her son. \u201cI just, I couldn\u2019t sleep last night. I was just waiting and waiting and waiting and just wondering what he was thinking, wondering if he\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trip was originally supposed to be seven and a half months, but the mission was extended.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese eight months have been hard,\u201d Blackshear added. \u201cEspecially just kind of watching the news and knowing what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

[DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n

The USS The Sullivans was one of two locally based ships that recently helped defend Israel from Iranian missile strikes.<\/p>\n

While sailors told Action News Jax Sunday morning it was an incredibly trying time to be away from home, they said the one thing that pushed them ahead was the constant reminder of the mission and the honor of serving their nation abroad.<\/p>\n

\"\"USS The Sullivans at Naval Station Mayport Loved ones celebrate the return of USS The Sullivans at Naval Station Mayport. \"\"USS The Sullivans at Naval Station Mayport Loved ones celebrate the return of USS The Sullivans at Naval Station Mayport <\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times where it got hard to remember the why, but truly thinking about the why and why you joined, the people around you being strong for those beside you was really what made it easy for me to stay strong,\u201d one sailor told Action News Jax.<\/p>\n

[SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n

Now, some much-needed time at home for these sailors and the historic naval ship, before the next mission at hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ship has been deployed now five times in the last four years,\u201d explained Mathew Rechkemmer, commanding officer of USS The Sullivans. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, a lot of operational experience for the crew. They\u2019ve been away from home a lot. So we\u2019re ready to get the ship repaired and get her ready to fight again here in the next couple of years.”<\/p>\n

Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 An emotional reunion Sunday morning at the Naval Station Mayport, as the \u201cUSS The Sullivans\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":63289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[7320,5229,7323,3188,723,7324,7310,7327,45083,7325,7326,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,45084,7322,7321],"class_list":{"0":"post-63288","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-cbs47","11":"tag-fl","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-fox30","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jacksonville-fl","16":"tag-naval-station-mayport","17":"tag-northeast-florida","18":"tag-southeast-georgia","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa","25":"tag-uss-the-sullivans","26":"tag-wfox","27":"tag-wjax"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114848225527357820","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}